Steel Bars and Blossoms
by hopefulromanticx
Summary: Leah and Jake are captured by the Volturi. They spend some quality time in a cell while the Volturi decides their fate. Feelings begin to grow stronger between the pair and they are left with decisions that will alter lives of everyone they care about.
1. Chapter 1

"Your girlfriend keeps getting us in trouble," Leah scoffs as she moves around in the prison Jake and she now occupy. "It's getting a bit annoying." Leah says as she paces. She looks around; this place was right out of the typical vampire movie. It was a medieval dungeon in a castle with historically gothic architecture and decoration. It made Leah queasy just thinking about all of the hellish, unspeakable things that happened in this very castle, in this very dungeon, in this very cell. She and Jake were now locked up in a space too close for comfort.

"You didn't have to come," Jake grumbles, "I asked you not to come actually."

"I wasn't going to let you go alone, and besides if I didn't go, you know who would have been all too eager to take my place, and I can't risk my brother getting hurt. Not when I could have prevented it." Leah says to him.

"You can't protect him for his whole life." Jake says.

Leah looks to Jake angrily. "Seth is still a pup, he would have no idea how to act in a situation like this. And maybe I can't protect him his whole life, but I can certainly stop him from going to get slaughtered by a coven of vampires, the biggest coven to be exact." Leah continues to pace and she plays with her charm necklace the pack had given her for her birthday. They all pitched in and got her a necklace and three charms: a wolf, a dream catcher, and a feather; each charm was a smooth silver that matched the thin chain perfectly except for the expertly carved wooden wolf which she knew exactly who made that one. Leah had gotten used to messing with it out of habit, especially the wolf charm. Her fingers seemed to like the carvings in the smooth driftwood that was used to carve the wolf. Leah quickly calmed after a few seconds of running her fingers over the wood.

Jake took notice of this and decided to drop the topic on Leah's brother, There was no point to argue, but arguing with Leah just felt so right. Arguing with Leah was one of his favorite things, he'd never admit that though, and it just came so easily to him. She would always protect Seth, and she would always sacrifice herself over him possibly getting hurt. But that's the biggest thing Jake learned to admire about Leah, she didn't care about many people, but the ones she did care about, she cared about them deeply, she gave them her all and she was always willing to sacrifice herself before letting them get hurt. That is of course the reason they were in this crappy cell together. The Volturi were going to hurt Jake, probably even drain his blood. Leah jumped out from hiding just in time to convince the coven to keep them prisoners for a bit, giving Jake a few more minutes of life. They almost killed her, killed her over him and they had Jake so all he could do was watch while one of the Volturi created pain to Leah without even touching her, without even speaking; it was the darkest form of magic or power Jake had ever seen. After the little girl was done tormenting Leah, one of the leaders stepped in and wondered why Leah hadn't cried out during the torture. He spoke to her, and she convinced him that she and Jake were more valuable to the Volturi alive rather than dead.

Jake admired her for that. She suggested that she could work for the Volturi, for them to think about how much more control they would have with a shape shifter on their side, all they would have to do was let Jake go and stop bothering the Cullens. Jake admired that the most. The Volturi of course said they had to think about it, and then proceeded to lock the pair up in a cell.

"Thanks for earlier, I don't know how I would have gotten out of that mess." Jake says.

"You probably wouldn't have." Leah smiles to him a little bit.

"Why did you suggest you work for them? Why would you do that?" Jake asks her.

"I thought it would save our lives, which it has so far. Not to mention, I figured out them really quickly, they are all about having power but still seeming like they are just royalty. Having a shapeshifter with the most powerful coven in the existence of vampires would make them that much more powerful. Plus its better I stay than you. You have a life back home."

"You do too." Jake tells her.

"Not really. Mom works a lot, and when she's not working she's sleeping or she's out. Seth is the only important thing back home and you and the rest of the pack would take care of him if I decided to stay back." Leah tells him very seriously.

"We would take care of him, but I would never ask you to give up your life for Nessie's safety, that's my job." Jake says and he is now pacing while Leah leans against the wall and watches.

Leah looks down at the cold, grey, stone floor. "It wouldn't be for Nessie's safety." She says just loud enough for him to hear it.

"Then for what?" Jake asks.

Leah looks at him. _Could he really not know?_ She thinks to herself. Jake's completely clueless. Leah tries to think of a reason, she's not ready to put her feelings out so that her heart could get stomped on again. That would be the one thing to make this the worst mission, the worst moment of her life. She would be locked in a small cell with the guys she cares about, cares about a lot, and to know that he doesn't see her that way and that he doesn't know what to say to her anymore. Leah plays with her necklace again, this time feeling the dream catcher charm. "For La Push of course, we can't have vampires continue to venture to our territory. It's not safe for civilians, not to mention the fact that visitors will spark changes in kids younger and younger. It needs to stop, and if I'm the one who can stop it, why not?"

"But you didn't mention anything about La Push, or anyone else." Jake says as he thinks about the only subject that was discussed for Leah's servitude to the leeches. _His safety._ His safety for her life signed over.

"I'll obviously bring it up when they agree to the deal. You can't show them that you want too much or they won't agree." Leah says.

"Right," Jake says but somehow he's not convinced. He knows, he knows in his gut that Leah offered herself for his safety, which meant he was a part of the select few who were cared for by Leah. Jake smiles to himself and he can't help but feel honored, and special. He would never admit that to anyone though, Leah was just some girl, just a fellow pack member. That's all she should be to him, that's all she would be to him.

"What are you smiling about Black?" Leah asks with her arms crossed over her chest and she studies him.

"I was just thinking about the fact that you might be the last person I ever speak to." Jake says.

"I'm not thrilled about it either. At least you aren't a leech though." Leah says as she begins pacing now.

"The vampires aren't that bad. Well the Cullens at least." Jake says and he sits down and watches her.

"Of course now you are all team bloodsuckers, your soul mate, your reason for your whole existence is a bloodsucker." She says to him.

"Half bloodsucker." Jake corrects.

"Does it matter?" Leah asks and she leans against the cell bars. When her skin touches the cool metal she realizes how hot she is in this dungeon. She begins fanning herself. "But your image of them changed the moment your sweet Bella was turned into one."

Jake sighs. "Why do you hate Bella so much?"

"Why are you so in love with Bella?" Leah counters.

"I'm not, not anymore."

"Right, because you love Nessie now." Leah scoffs and she pushes that strange feeling she gets whenever she or anybody mentions his feelings for either one of the girls Leah didn't care much for.

"I never said I loved her. Imprinting is complicated Leah. You feel emotions the way you are supposed to feel for them. Everything you are is for them." Jake says and Leah notices the fire in his eyes has dimmed, he isn't as rebellious, he isn't so eruptive anymore, Nessie has tamed him.

"I would hate that." Leah says. "Your whole existence is to please someone, it would drive me nuts, I'm glad I haven't imprinted. I never want to. I'm my own person; no one should control how I feel."

"There are some advantages to imprinting, you'll always have someone, and suddenly you aren't so alone. Your life has a purpose now, before I was walking around in a fog unsure of my purpose and now, I know. It's a great feeling Leah." Jake says seriously.

"I don't need someone to be my purpose. I have my own purpose." Leah thinks for a bit and then smiles.

"What?" Jake asks.

"I was just thinking, you are going to be a virgin for an awfully long time Black. Poor pup." Leah teases.

"And you know for a fact that I am a virgin because…"

"You didn't fuck Bella, you didn't fuck Nessie, they are the only ones you would consider for the task, so you've waited." Leah smiles to him.

"They aren't the only ones I've considered, I am a man after all." Jake says to her.

Leah chuckles. "Barely a man. And don't you mean you are an Alpha male, your need to prove your dominance must be killing you."

It wasn't killing him, not until she mentioned it. Now he felt the need to fuck the first stranger he saw just to prove his strength. He was disgusted by this thought. Leah must have read his disgust. "Hey, it's the animal in us Jake, it's hard to control. I'm surprised you've lasted this long."

"Isn't this cute? The prisoners are quite familiar with each other Felix." The little vampire girl says in an irritating voice.

"I wouldn't mind becoming more familiar with this one." Felix says and he winks to Leah. Jake tenses up but control himself; he doesn't have the right to defend Leah.

"You are a pig Felix, she is a _monster_." The girl says and Leah finally remembers who she is. Leah backs up instinctively not wanting to have more pain inflicted on her.

"Newsflash Jane, so are we. I think it's amazing what happens when two monsters… come together." He stares at Leah who feels uncomfortable under his stare. However she wouldn't dare to look or move away, she was safer standing still, standing her ground and not showing any weakness.

Jake tries to control himself. He didn't like how Felix was looking at Leah as if she was something he could devour. Jake clenched his fist at his side, if these two vampires didn't leave soon, everything would be blown. Jake would lose his temper and Leah's deal would not be considered. The two of them would be killed instantly.

Leah gets an idea, and looks over to Jake. She notices his fists clenched at his side and this little notice makes Leah more nervous. If Jake lost his temper everything would be over.

Leah tries to look as cute and flirty as possible. "Maybe you should let me out _Felix… _so we can play." Leah pouts seductively and walks towards the bar. When she gets close, Felix reaches his arm through the bar, his hand grabs Leah's arm and pulls her against the bar. Leah lets out a small squeak in surprise. Felix gets close and smells Leah. He actually smells _her_. Leah tries not to shake in disgust.

"You are disgusting Felix, I can't witness anymore. Dinner is in an hour, see you then." Jane looked to Felix with a look of disgust and then she quickly rushed out of sight.

Felix smiles after finishing smelling Leah. "You smell delectable, like the wet forest ground on a hot summer day." This causes Jake to laugh and Felix responds by pulling Leah tighter against the bars. Leah gasps as her body makes impact with the steel bars. She can feel the dull ache spread throughout her body. "Tell your boyfriend to shut up." Felix threatens.

"Jake… please." Leah begs.

Suddenly Jake realized that he cared too much for the safety of Leah. It was dangerous to both of their lives for him to care about her so much. He could fear his inner wolf growing more and more restless as he continued to look at Felix and his hands on Jake's Beta. Jake was trying to control himself, the last thing he wanted was for Leah to get hurt because of a stupid, rash action from Jake. He needed to calm down. But he couldn't. All he could focus on was the excessive smell of flowers due to the leech so close in proximity, the way his hands clenched around Leah's arms and pinned her against the bars, and the way his inner wolf was screaming to come out and rip Felix to shreds.

Jake was confused by this sudden, protectiveness he felt for Leah. It scared him. He didn't like caring for things when they most likely didn't care for him back.

But didn't Leah put her life on the line to protect Jake's life? Then didn't that mean that somehow Leah cared for his life and tried to protect him.

Jake decided right there in that moment that he would never let Leah stay here and sacrifice herself for him. If Jake was leaving, so would Leah. Jake also promised himself never to let Leah get hurt. He would let Felix touch her the way he was now, but if it progressed anymore, Jake would let release his inner wolf and he'd deal with the sacrifices of shredding Felix.

Jake wasn't worried about Nessie anymore, he wasn't worried about La Push either, right now, Leah, his Beta, needed him, and he would be there for her.

**A/N: Hey guys I wanted to get this out to you guys tonight! Apologies for any spelling/grammar errors. I've been working on it in some of my free time. What do you think? Do you think it has possibility? Should I continue? I'm not even sure where this story will go but this is a start. It was just going to be a one shot but as I wrote, it got longer and longer and I wanted some of it to get out so I could see if I should continue. Let me know. Your opinions do matter. Hope everyone is lovely. I guess this means I'm back with my fanfiction writing.**


	2. Chapter 2

Steel Bars and Blossoms Part 2:

Another member of the Volturi barges into the room. Felix doesn't take note of this at all; he is so absorbed in Leah. "Felix!" The member shouts. Felix turns to look at the new person in the room and his grip on Leah loosens, making it easier to breathe.

"What?" Felix says irritated. Leah wiggles a little in his grip but this makes Felix quickly tighten his grip again.

"Dinner." The guy says.

"Jane said it would be in an hour. I wanted to get to know our prisoners better." Felix sort of pouts.

"Get to know them on the way up; they are coming up with us." The guy says emotionless.

"I'll lead the girl." Felix quickly volunteers.

Everything is happening so quickly, that Leah finally puts everything together. Dinner time is the same time they were bringing them up, were they possibly going to be dinner? She had always thought that since they were shifters, they wouldn't be seen as tasty to the vampires. She never thought her blood would be drained as a food source to the leeches. Leah looks to Jake and he has seemed to put the same thing together.

Felix quickly turns Leah around so her back is against the bar. One arm wraps around her waist tightly and the other grips her throat, barely allowing her air. Jake takes notice of his hands and arms. An indescribable feeling in the bit of his stomach develops when he watches Felix's grip on Leah. Felix leans close and smells Leah. Leah hears the gate to the cell open. She tries to move but Felix has her firmly held in place. Jake tenses and Leah thinks he's going to attack.

"Watch what you do, boy. Your sweet girlfriend will pay the price if you do anything stupid. I have her in the perfect position to take a bite into her. I wonder what happens when shifter blood mixes with vampire venom." Felix teases. Leah squirms, and his grip tightens; she stops moving and his grip loosens giving her a little bit more air.

Leah's eyes meet Jake's and something inside his eyes tells her that he won't do anything stupid. The Volturi member wraps Jake's arms in a thick rope, Jake grunts when Leah notices the Volturi member pull the knot tight. The member begins to lead Jake out of the room. Jake is reluctant to move but he knows he needs to keep Leah safe.

Leah watches Jake leave the room. "Sorry baby." Felix whispers and just when Leah wonders what he means, His grip on her throat tightens and cuts off all of Leah's air supply. Leah can feel herself dying, she squirms and tries to get him to release her but he doesn't budge. Just when she feels like she's about to pass out, he releases her from both of his grips. Leah drops to the ground, gasping for air. When she finally calms her gasping, she looks up to see a grinning Felix looking down to her.

"Are you crazy?" Leah asks still a little breathless.

Felix grabs her arms while she's distracted and ties the thick rope around Leah's small wrists, tight and secure.

"The ropes are a safety precaution. I don't think we'll need them, but its regulation." Felix says as he picks up Leah and sets her back on her feet. Felix wraps his arm around Leah's waist again and pulled her side against his.

Leah was beginning to figure out Felix. She was beginning to understand that he wouldn't hurt her and he might be her best ally of the Volturi.

"You never answered my question." Leah says as he leads her down the corridor.

"Which one?" Felix asks her.

"Are you crazy?" Leah asks him confidently. Felix laughs.

"No, I just needed to distract you so you wouldn't fight me. I wasn't in the mood to fight you. As amusing and interesting as it would be to watch you move around and fight me, I figured the Guard would be upset if we were any later than we already are." Leah took note that he referred to them as "the Guard". She continues to listen to him with great interest; she listens for clues on ways to get Jake and her out of this horrible situation. "They might have already killed your boyfriend by the time we get up there." Leah's heart sinks, she hadn't thought of that. She quickly begins to try to walk faster, Felix laughs and pulls her against his side, slowing her down back to his speed. Leah hadn't thought of it before, but did he just refer to Jake as her boyfriend? Had he always done that? Had he done it when Jake was around? If so, why hadn't Jake responded to him?

"He's not my boyfriend." Leah says to him.

"But you do care for him do you not?" Felix asks.

"Only in the sense that he's my Alpha and he is in charge and responsible for my future and the future of my pack." Leah tells him. She doesn't think he'll buy it, but at least she has started denying it, that's making progress.

"Interesting…" Felix says but she knows that he can see through the lie she just told. How can someone she just met see through lies when someone she's known her whole life can't? "Well, he cares about you. I can tell. And you care about him. You both try so hard to hide it. You should be open about it, everything is better when it's out in the open."

"He cares for me because he's responsible for me. And I already explained to you why I care for him." I say bitterly. "Not everyone should be as obvious as you."

Felix stops in front of a big door and unties the rope from her wrist. Leah admires his perfect motions while untying the rope. "Have I been obvious? I thought I was being rather secretive." Leah chuckles at this. She glances over to the door and the smile that had lasted a short time fades from her face.

"Are they going to kill me?" She asks Felix.

Felix shrugs as if it wasn't important, as if it wasn't her life they were talking about. "I could have been more obvious." Felix says.

"Shouldn't we be going in there?" Leah says, not able to focus on anything else except those huge, wooden, black doors.

Felix grabs Leah's arms and turns her to face him. He moves close, their bodies are pressed against each other. He was almost a foot taller than her. "We have time. I said, I could have been more obvious."

"How so?" Leah asks trying to get this over with so she can find out her fate.

One of Felix's hands leave her arms and run down her back. It squeezes her ass and she squeaks. She pulls back to slap him but he stops it and forces it to come back down.

"Never, ever do that again." Leah warns him.

Felix is grinning ear to ear. "That is a nice ass you have, dear." Leah glares at him. "I could have done that in front of your boyfriend. That would have driven him crazy; he was going crazy about my hands being on you. That action would have sent him over the roof. He definitely would have lost his temper. Too bad I'm not into kissing someone who doesn't want it, which would have been hilarious to watch your boyfriend react to."

"He got upset because he thought you would hurt me. He doesn't care who touches me, and certainly doesn't care who I kiss. Again, he's not my boyfriend." Leah says.

"Of course he's not." Felix says.

"Felix! We are waiting! Any moment now!" A musical voice says from inside the room.

Felix grins to me; he wraps his arms around my waist and turns me so I have my back to him. He presses up against me.

"You are too close." I tell him.

"Good." Felix whispers and I can hear the smirk. The door opens and Felix leans down to my ear. "You'll ask me to kiss you soon, and I'll do it greatly. It will probably even be in front of your boyfriend."

"Welcome Leah, I'm Aro, I welcome you to our home!" The brunette leader speaks as Leah and Felix walk in. Aro was the leader, Leah could tell this. The blonde was in the group of leaders but he followed the brunette that is talking to Leah. The other brunette just seemed very zombie-like. Jake intently watches Leah, if she is ever at any danger, he decides, he wouldn't let them kill her, not when he could do something about it. He sees Felix's arms wrapped snuggly around his Beta, and Jake envisions pinning Felix to the marble floor and shredding his frozen body to bits. Jake imagines the fire burning, consuming Felix's remains and he can even smell the smell of burning vampire flesh in the air.

"It is so nice of you to finally join us. I'm sure Felix has made this castle feel like home for you." The man's politeness worries Leah. "So, you proposed that you would work for us. I have discussed it with my partners, and we think it would be best if both, you and the boy were to work for us. You must understand, two is better than one dear."

"That wasn't part of the deal. He can leave, and I can stay. That was my proposition." Leah says to him, she can feel her usual courage creep back in. She wasn't worried about dying anymore. She wasn't worried about anything, anything except for Jake. He needed to get out of here and she was willing to promise anything to get him out of this horrible, nightmarish castle.

"The only way we will spare both of your lives is if you both stay. You will be loyal to the Volturri. You will do as we ask, we being the three of us," he points to himself and the other two on thrones, "Caius, Marcus and I. You will not betray any Guard members. You will do as I, as we ask without any complaining." Aro is looking at Leah as if he is waiting to do something but hasn't done it yet. "Do we have a deal Leah Clearwater?"

Jake anxiously awaits Leah's answer. She has his future in her hands, and honestly it makes Jake nervous.

"How long are we talking about?" Leah asks seriously.

"You both may leave if you so choose after five years." The man says matter-of-factly.

"Jake doesn't need to stay. You just need me." Leah says trying to convince Aro but Aro's not buying it. Jake has had enough of this; he jerks out of the Guard members grip and moves forward. When Leah hears the chaos, she turns and watches, forcing herself not to move. The Guard member is about to grab Jake when Aro calls him off.

"I'm staying." Jake declares.

"Jake… no." Leah whispers.

Aro claps once; it is a gesture that resembles one of an excited child. "It is decided then. Leah and Jacob will join our ranks. It will be a marvelous edition."

"Master, please, you haven't even seen her thoughts." The little girl that was previously in the dungeon speaks up. "We don't know if we can trust _them_."

"I can judge people pretty well, Jane you'd be surprised. I do plan on seeing her thoughts though. And Chelsea will help us with our new members. Not now though. Now, we will eat." Right on his cue a beautiful woman leads in a group of tourists. Leah can feel a chill run down her spine; this isn't going to end well. Leah moves closer to Jake.

"This is our last destination of our tour. This is the throne room. It has historically been used by kings and queens for centuries. It has been used similarly to the Coliseum, there were huge battles staged in this room, several people have lost their lives in this very room… and that concludes your tour." The woman says and leans up against the back wall. "Have a wonderful day." She smiles. Right on cue the vampires spring at the tour group, there are screams, someone begs the woman to let them out but the doors have locked, it's like a slaughterhouse. Some are screaming, while others lay on the marble floor still because they were among the first to be grabbed.

"Leah, don't watch." Jake whispers to Leah.

Leah turns to him, "She's human, how can she do this?" Leah whispers to him.

Jake looks to Leah with sadness in his eyes. "You know why Leah."

"She wants to be one of them?" Leah asks and shivers in disgust at the thought. Jake only nods. Leah looks down and notices his still bound hands. "You shouldn't be staying," Leah whispers to him as she quickly tries to undo the perfect knot while the vampires are distracted.

"I'm not leaving you Leah. I can't do that." Jake says to her and he turns to glance at the scene, most of the humans are dead now. "We don't have much time."

Leah finally finishes untying the knot. She sighs in relief. "You are free." She tells him and she is struck by the fact that the sentence is the farthest thing from the truth. IF anything, Jake is now more bound than he ever has been in his life. Jake watches Leah's face and his hand instinctively reaches for her. He stops it though before it goes to cup her cheek and he brushes her arm gently instead. The touch only lasts a second but it sets fire to Leah's insides. Leah looks to Jake.

"We are in this together Leah. I'm not leaving you, and you aren't losing me. I made the decision long before we were in this room." Jake says to her.

His statement makes Leah think, was he thinking about staying with her while they were in that cell all this time? When had he decided he was staying with her? Leah turns to the room; she can't stand to be so close to Jake, it's almost torturous. When she's close to him all she wants to do is touch him, kiss him and claim his as hers. Leah looks around the room, there's not a soul alive. The room is filled with drained corpses, and suddenly all of the blood-red eyes are on Leah and Jake. Leah instinctively moves closer to her Alpha for protection.


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3:

Aro smiles to Leah and Jake as everyone stays silent and waits. "You two are very close." Aro takes note. He moves closer to Leah and Leah instinctively moves closer to Jake. Jake's hand takes Leah's, Jake grips her hand tightly but in his grip there is gentleness. This confuses Leah; Jake has never treated her like she was fragile, even when she was fragile. Leah begins to wonder if she should be worried if Jake is already changing because of the situation. Aro looks at our hands and smiles even bigger.

"No need to be nervous, I have big plans for you Leah darling." Aro says and something about the way he said it sends chills down Leah's spine, she inches closer to Jake. Aro looks around the room. "Everyone may leave except Jane, Felix, Marcus and Caius." The room quickly evacuated. Aro turns his attention back to Leah. "May I see your hand?" Leah looks to Jake, then Felix, then back to Aro. She hands him her free hand as if to show him that she wasn't afraid.

The instant her hand came in contact with his, she could feel him inside of her head. She clenched Jake's hand slightly tighter. She could feel him in every part of her mind, squirming through every single thought she's ever had. In the distance, she can hear Jake scream "stop" but this continues for a few more moments.

When Aro releases her hand, her mind is her own once again. Leah looks to him, shocked and worried, "What did you just do?" She asks him.

"I just saw every single thought you've ever had. You have quite an interesting mind my dear." Aro says and every instinct in Leah's body wishes to punch him in the face, but Leah knows she can't do that. Aro smiles to me as if he knows what Leah is thinking; his smile is proud and arrogant. "Now, Jacob, it is your turn." Aro says and offers his hand. Leah can feel Jake go stiff; she squeezes his hand in hers for a second as a way of reminding him that she was there beside him. He didn't know it but she'd always be there by his side, no matter what. Jake is relieved by the gentle squeeze and gives Aro his hand. Leah notices how rigid Jake goes once their hands make contact.

After a few moments Aro let's go of his hand and Jake instantly relaxes. He looks over to Leah and she can see how freaked out he is.

"You both are very interesting." Aro comments, he turns to face everyone else and Jake lets out a breath of relief because he was worried Aro would do it again. "They are perfect for joining the coven, my friends. They are able to be trusted. Chelsea, will you?" Aro asks.

A woman with light brown hair and bright red eyes steps forward. "Of course." She smiles to Aro. She focuses on Jake and Leah, suddenly a feeling of loyalty to the Volturi come over Leah and Jake. However, the loyalty is not very strong and Leah and Jake's feelings toward the Volturi are still there but their feelings are less strong. Jake and Leah also feel like they need to stand by the Volturi and listen to Aro. The new loyalty and the old feelings clash within them and it is like Jake and Leah can feel it. "It is done." Chelsea says and Aro smiles.

"Good." Aro looks to Jake and Leah then to Felix. "Felix, will you escort them to their room. They will have to share a room for now, but I don't think they will mind." Aro smiles. "Leah, I will be coming to get you tomorrow morning. Like I said, we have big plans for you, both of you."

Felix walks over to Leah and Jake and yanks Leah towards him. Leah wasn't expecting it so Leah's hand let's go of Jake as Leah is pulled against Felix. Her body hits against Felix's rocky body and she misses the warmth of Jake's hand. "Come on you too." Felix says as he takes Leah's hand and begins dragging her out of the room. Jake follows trying his hardest not to lose his temper, not yet. This would be the wrong time, the worst time.

They travel down a long, dark corridor and finally, at the end of the corridor, Felix stops. He opens the door. He lets go of Leah for a second and pushes Jake into the room, closing the door quickly before Jake can stop him. He locks the door; Leah can hear Jake banging on the door. Meanwhile, Felix pins Leah against the wall and presses his firm body against her. He leans down to be closer to her.

Leah can't help but focus on the constant banging coming from Jake. "Is he being hurt in there?" Leah asks.

Felix laughs. "No, he just doesn't trust me with you. I can't say I'd blame him. There's no telling what a big, bad vampire will do to you." He whispers in her ear closely.

"You aren't scary Felix." Leah says to him. "Why do you have me out here? You know I'd rather be locked in there with him."

"That's your problem Leah." Felix speaks softly with a big smile on his face. Now she had a problem? Leah thought to herself. "You care so much for a boy when there is a better man, right here waiting for you to ask him to kiss you. Why do you even waste your time with that _dog_? He doesn't show you any attention and he hides all of his feelings for you. You deserve better."

"Jake is more of a man than you ever will be, _leech_." Leah tells him bitterly. Felix looks offended and then he begins to laugh. "And you think you are the better I deserve?"

"Leech, that's cute. I feel bad; I don't have a pet name for you." Felix jokes. "I guess I'll need to work on that, darling." Felix smiles and Leah rolls her eyes.

"Can you let me into that room now?" She asks.

Felix sighs. "Fine, I'll see you tomorrow, sweetie pie." Felix kids as he unlocks the door and Jake almost falls, Leah grabs his arm before he lands and stabilizes Jake.

"Careful Twinkle Toes, you might land on your face and make it uglier." Felix laughs at himself.

"Felix, that's enough. Please leave." Leah says.

"See you tomorrow, Pup." Felix says and he smiles. "I like that one. Pup." He smiles bigger.

Leah rolls her eyes and he winks at her. "See you Pup." Felix says and he disappears into the corridor quickly.

Jake looks to Leah and seems to be examining her for any signs of injury. "Did he hurt you?" Jake asks eagerly.

Leah laughs a little. "He'd never hurt me Jake."

"How do you know that?" Jake asks.

"I can just tell." Leah assures him as she leads him into the room.

"I hate him, I hate all of them." Jake says angrily while they are entering into their room. Leah shushes and he looks to her confused.

"We have to make it out of here alive. They need to believe we are on their side, that's the only way Jake. If you are going to act like you hate them then you shouldn't have stayed because it will just get both of us killed; I'm not ready to die and I'm definitely not ready to watch you die." Leah says as she looks around the room.

The room is a dark grey color, with blood red curtains. There isn't much else in the huge, open room. There is a big bed, probably Queen sized and two chairs facing a fireplace. The few shelves are bare. There is a very old mirror, Leah walks over and touches the edge of it, expecting it to shatter. Jake yawns and Leah turns her attention to Jake. "You should get some sleep Jake." Jake nods. He grabs a cushion from one of the chairs and Leah wonders what he is doing. He drops the cushion on the floor and lies down on the floor; his head rests on the cushion. Leah giggles, he would take the floor.

Jake looks at her sleepily. "What is funny?"

"Are you planning on sleeping on the floor?" Leah asks him and she walks over to him.

"There's only one bed Leah." He says and he seems annoyed that she isn't letting him sleep.

"Right… and it is a pretty big bed, so why are you on the floor?" Leah says. Jake turns to look at her on his side.

"Are you suggesting we sleep together Leah Clearwater?" Jake smirks a little bit.

"Very funny Jacob, I'm suggesting that both of us should sleep in the bed or I should take the floor-"

"You aren't taking the floor. That would be rude of me. Plus, you deserve the bed, you've gotten us this far." Jake mumbles sleepily.

Leah sighs and she lies on the floor. Her head is beside Jake's on the cushion. "I'm not going to sleep on the bed, while you sleep on the floor. Either you sleep on the bed or we both do." Leah says stubbornly and she crosses her arms across her chest.

Jake groans. "Why does everything have to be so difficult with you?"

"Just part of my charm I guess." Leah smiles. "So what will it be Alpha? Are we both sleeping on the bed or are you sleeping on the bed alone?"

Jake sighs as he sits up. "You know I hate being called Alpha." That was true, Jake hated his superiority being called out, but somehow when the word rolled off Leah's lips it sounded a little bit more pleasant like she was supposed to say it. Jake hated it when Seth or Quil or even Embry called him Alpha but just now he seemed to like it coming from Leah and he fought the urge to smile. Nothing is supposed to change between Leah and Jake; she knows he didn't like to be called Alpha; that fact needed to stay the same, along with everything between them. Whatever Jake was feeling for Leah, he didn't want her knowing, everything would be so much more complicated.

Leah laughs and looks up to Jake who is staring at her with a look of something she isn't sure of. "Alpha, Alpha, Al-pha." Leah smiles playfully to Jake. Leah was enjoying this, she wanted to see how far this could go before it had to stop.

"You are testing me Leah." Jake says to her. "I'm warning you, don't call me Alpha again."

"Oh… scary…" Leah begins to laugh then she controls herself, putting on a face with a perfect mischievous smile. "_Alpha_."

Jake smiles and jumps at Leah, but as always she's quicker and she's anticipated his movement. She begins to jog around the room, Jake chases her. This continues for several minutes. Leah is laughing and so is Jake; Leah decides she wants him to catch her. She slows down; Jake grabs her arms and pushes her backwards. Her back hits the wall roughly but it doesn't hurt, Leah is more shocked by the sudden movement. Jake is close to her, too close. They are both breathing heavy from the running. Jake's arm skates over Leah's arm. "I told you not to call me that." Jake says as his other hand goes against the wall right next to her head.

Leah laughs. "Admit it, you like it. I can tell, I can see it in your eyes."

"I do not." Jake defends himself.

Leah laughs, "It's okay if you do. You don't have to hate it, it's who you were born to be, _Alpha_."

"Maybe I like it a little bit." Jake admits.

"I knew it!" Leah cheers and smiles.

One of Jake's hands travels to Leah's cheek slowly as if he is scared she'd swat his hand away when he touched her. She didn't she enjoyed his touch. It sent a bolt of electricity through her and it rejuvenated her. There was just something about Jake that once you were around him, or touching him, he seemed to pull you back up. Leah always felt like she could fly when he was touching her. Jake gets serious and his face moves closer to her. For a second, Leah believes he's going to kiss her, for a second Jake believed he was going to kiss her. However, a picture of a happy Nessie popped into his head right as he was beginning to lean in. Instead, Jake plays it off, "We'll share the bed," he says softly, close to Leah, "If you hit or kick me in your sleep, I have the right to take the floor." Jake smiles.

"That won't happen Jake." Leah promises. "I'm a very calm sleeper. If you are a cover hog, then I have the right to rip the covers from you and sleep on the floor." Leah smiles to him.

"Deal." Jake says and sticks his hand out for Leah to shake when she does, Jake turns and walks to the bed, he plops on it when he reaches it. Leah does almost the same thing, but hers is more graceful. Leah turns away from Jake and closes her eyes.

"Goodnight Jake." Leah whispers and she begins to fall asleep.

Jake watches Leah's form in front of him, suddenly aware of every curve Leah possesses. He notices the way her skin glows under the dim candlelight. He notices the way she smells like La Push, she still carries the mixture of the sea and the forest on her. Suddenly it is hard for Jake to not turn Leah to face him to kiss him, Jake brings a picture of Nessie to himself and his animalistic impulses calm a little. "Goodnight Leah." Jake whispers as he closes his eyes and fades into sleep.

**A/N: Hi wonderful readers! Hope you are enjoying. Just wanted to let you know it will probably be a week before I update again, I'm on Spring break and I'm going on vacation for a week. I'm sorry to keep you waiting on the next chapter but that's why I had to get this chapter out to you guys. Hope you guys liked it, hope it will hold you over to next week. Review please? Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading! You guys are awesome and all of the previous reviews have been amazing and motivating.**


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4:

_Leah is running in a field. She calls out for Jake but he's too far, he can't reach her. Jake keeps trying to run faster and faster but he begins to lose hope of getting to her fast enough. "Jake!" Leah shouts desperately. Jake can see Felix chasing after Leah, laughing evilly as he gains on her. They reach a clearing, Leah is on one side, and Felix is across from her. Leah is breathing heavily; Jake can see the fear on her face. _

_Felix smirks to her. "I want you Leah." Felix growls and sprints to Leah. He captures her and Leah shrieks. Jake reaches the edge of the clearing. Felix has Leah in his tight grip and Leah looks like she is about to cry as Felix kisses and nips Leah's bare neck and shoulders. _

"_Let her go!" Jake yells and feels someone shaking him. There's another laugh in the clearing. Aro shows up holding Nessie like he owns her. Nessie screams and reaches for Jake. She calls for him. Jane walks behind Aro smiling that evil smile of hers. _

"_You have a decision to make Jacob Black." Aro says calmly, his calm is too calm, it's the calm of a psychopath talking to one of their victims. A shiver runs down Jake's spine. "Will you save your soulmate or the girl you've always cared for?" Aro teases. Jake looks back and forth. Nessie jerks around in Aro's arms, Aro retaliates by digging his nail into her skin. Nessie screeches and a tear rolls down her face as she is forced to stand still. "Make your decision Jake, we don't have all day." Aro says. _

_Jake takes a step towards Nessie. Leah groans and Jake looks over to see what Felix is doing to her, but he's not doing anything to her, he just has a smile on his face. "Jake…" Nessie begs. Jake moves closer to Nessie, another groan escapes Leah's lips and Jake notices she is gritting her teeth. "Jake, please, let's go home." Jake steps two steps closer to Nessie and Leah screams. Jake stops instantly._

"_What are you doing to her?" Jake yells and feels something shake him again._

"_He's not doing anything boy." Aro says. Then Jake remembers Jane is there. _

"_Stop!" Jake yells. "Stop hurting her! What do you want from me?"_

"_Decide boy. The one you don't choose suffers. Isn't that just like life? You choose the soul mate, the girl you've cared so deeply for is tortured and she's stuck with a life she didn't want. You are the reason she is here, don't you remember? She gave up everything to be with you, to help you. But if you choose the wolf-girl, your soul mate suffers. She is stuck with a life she didn't want. Her family will be without her, and you'll live knowing you gave up on your soul mate." Aro says._

"_Jake, please." Nessie begs Jake._

"_Tick, tock." Aro says. _

"_I can't decide." Jake tells him._

"_Fine, we'll pick for you." Aro says. "Felix…" He nods. Jake's heart races as he looks to Leah, the girl he's always cared for._

"_No! No! Don't touch her! I pick her! I'll always pick her! Don't hurt her! I can't take seeing her in pain anymore!" Jake shouts._

_Jake is shaking and shaking. _

"Jake! Wake up!" Leah's voice whispers to him and Jake pulls himself from the clearing with the vampires.

Jake jerks awake and Leah jumps. "It was just a dream Jake." Leah says and her hand runs down his arm comfortingly. When she reaches his hand, Jake instinctively grips it as if Jake was desperate for a touch from reality.

Jake seems to struggle catching his breath. He looks over to Leah who is worried about him. "It seemed so real…" Jake whispers.

"It wasn't, Jake," Leah whispers back to him. When she sees he is still not comforted, Leah slides closer to Jake, their faces are inches away from each other, Jake's still got her hand in his grip. "You are okay Jake, everything is okay." Leah whispers to him.

Jake shakes his head. "It's not okay, you shouldn't be here Leah." Jake says to her. Leah takes this as Jake meaning so close to him, in the same bed. Of course he'd rather he was imprisoned with his dear imprint. Leah's face falls and she begins to scoot back but Jake's grip on her hand gets tighter and he slides closer to Leah. "I didn't mean here… I meant in Volterra, with the Volturi. It shouldn't have been you."

Leah looks down. "I'm sorry you are stuck with me," Leah mumbles.

"That's not what I mean either." Jake says.

"Then what do you mean?" Leah asks him as she looks up.

"I don't know. I'm sorry that you are here because of me. I'm sorry you have to go through this. God knows what they will do to us." Jake says.

"I don't mind it here so much," Leah whispers and when Jake looks to her like she is crazy she decides to explain. "I've always dreamt of seeing the world, going on thousands of adventures, this is both of those. It is definitely interesting." Leah smiles a little.

"Interesting? Why can you never grasp when your life is in danger?" Jake asks bothered by the lack of care she gives towards her life.

"I can grasp it," Leah says defensively. "I just don't let that ruin everything I do in life. If everyone thought… oh I could die, every minute of the day, the world would be much more depressing than it already is."

"Your logic is crazy." Jake says.

"Perhaps. Not to mention, the people here are so… charming." Leah smirks.

Jake tenses at this. "Don't go near them Leah." Jake orders and Leah can feel a little hint of an Alpha order settle on her skin and sink into her body. It isn't strong so it wouldn't force her, but it was strong enough to help her be conscious of her actions against the order.

"I'm not afraid of them Jake. They don't scare me. They shouldn't scare you. We were made for this Jake; we were made to eliminate their kind from our world." Leah says but she can tell that what she says is a lie. She is afraid of them. Not them individually, but them as a group, the biggest, most powerful coven of vampires. Jake looks to Leah and she can tell he can read right through what she has said. Jake knows Leah pretty well, better than a lot of people. Leah thought maybe that was just a quality Jake had, he could read people, he understood them and he could see right through their lies. This realization made Leah even more nervous because if he could see through each one of everyone's lies that meant he could see through every single lie Leah told trying to hide her feelings for him.

"I'm not afraid of them," Jake says as he turns and looks at the ceiling. He lets go of Leah's hand and pulls his arms behind his head. Leah feels sadness at the loss of contact and she can't help herself but to see how the muscles in his arms are more emphasized by his new position. "I don't have a good feeling about this Leah. Please, just stay away from them. I know you like to test limits but please don't. Let's just behave while we figure a way out of this mess."

Leah looks to Jake and giggles. "You're telling me to behave? You are the one that acts irrational when it comes to Felix, not me." Jake turns to look at Leah; his face is serious and holds something Leah isn't sure of. It worries her.

Jake thinks about telling Leah about how crazy he gets inside when he sees Felix look at and touch Leah. Jake thinks about telling Leah about his nightmare and how nervous he is about everything. Jake thinks about telling Leah about picking her over Nessie and how he knows that he would do the same if it wasn't a nightmare. But those thoughts scare Jake. He's supposed to feel bound to Nessie, not Leah. He's supposed to want to save Nessie over everyone else; she's supposed to be the most important.

Jake doesn't tell Leah about any of it; instead he decides to push those thoughts to the back of his mind. "I realized that being angry isn't going to get us anywhere. Just… I know guys like Felix and they aren't good news Leah." Jake tells her.

Leah laughs a little. Is Jacob black really giving her dating advice? What if Leah gave her input on Jacob's interests like his unhealthy infatuation with Bella Swan and the even more unhealthy connection with a child that is less than three years old but looks and acts to be ten or eleven? "I don't plan on settling down with him in a room in this castle and raising a bunch of little half breed children, I don't even plan on dating him or even kissing him. So you don't have to worry, Jake that is not what I'm focused on right now."

"Good." Jake says softly.

"Why does it matter to you anyways who I am interested in? I mean it's not like you asked me for permission to be involved with Nessie. And can you honestly say you would care about what happens to me when you aren't responsible and would take the guilt?"

"Is that what you think?" Jake asks turning to her.

"Of course that's what I think. I've been a pain in your ass for a while now Jake. Remember, I've been inside that brain of yours. I know what you think of me. If you weren't responsible for my life you wouldn't care. But since you're Alpha and you are the reason I came, everyone would blame you and your reputation would be tainted." Leah says to him.

"You've got me figured out don't you?" Jake says softly.

"You aren't that hard to figure out Jake. We all think we are more mysterious than we actually are." Leah tells him.

Jake sighs, "I care about you Leah. Not just because what happens to you affects how people look at me because it's you Leah. You are a part of my pack, a part of the tribe, someone that couldn't be replaced. I care Leah, I care." Jake breathes softly and as soon as he releases that breath the door slams open and we both jump.

"Did you two have fun last night?" Felix asks suggestively. Leah wants them to go away; she wants to talk to Jake more. What does he mean he cares? How could he care? "I'll find out all of the details later. Time for your first mission. Let's go." Felix grabs Leah and leads her out. When the other guy reaches to grab Jake, Jake shakes his head and says he can walk on his own. Jake watches as Leah is led by Felix and the only thing in his mind right now is the words he just told Leah. Those words made him vulnerable; those words if understood properly showed his feelings for Leah and gave Leah the ultimate power to crush his heart into dust.

Jake realized they were being lead out of the castle but before they left Felix put a necklace around Leah's neck. The necklace was a silver color with a silver circle pendant.

"If you decide to run… it won't be pretty for little miss beautiful right here." Felix smiles evilly to Jake as Leah struggles to get the chain from her neck. It doesn't budge and Jake realizes this might be harder than he thought.

A/N: I know this is really really late! I've been busy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Any ideas what the necklace does or what the mission is? Hope you all are doing well. Thanks for being patient. I haven't replied privately… but thank you so much reviewers! You all are amazing. Okay, I'm going to go sleep. I'm exhausted. Bye.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Felix tries to grab Leah's hand and she jerks it away. "I can walk on my own." She says bitterly. Felix shrugs.

"Why so bitter Pup?" Felix as he continues walking. They don't lead Jake and Leah through the city; they go the back way, through the forest Leah never noticed before. Leah ignores his question. She looks over to Jake who she notices is keeping his eye on her.

"What's our mission?" Leah asks trying to learn about their fate.

"Eager are we?" Felix chuckles. "We have…" he looks to his fellow coven members and smiles a mischievous smile, "recruits we'll be escorting to the castle."

"Do these recruits know they are joining the Vulture?" Jake joins the conversation.

"Not yet, but with our new coven members… it shouldn't be hard to convince them of the right choice." Felix smiles and stops walking, everyone follows him and stops as well. "We are waiting for one more people…"

"You plan on using us to force people to join your coven?" Jake says angrily. "That's horrible."

"_Our_ coven." Felix corrects. "You are a member, along with your sweet pup. You won't want to talk that way around Aro, Caius or Marcus." Jake tenses. "It is what we ask of you, you lost your ability to choose what you do when you pledged to stay and we spared you your life."

"What if I don't do it?" Jake asks.

"You'll want to do it." Felix says and looks to Leah. Leah steps back, closer to Jake.

"Felix!" A familiar voice calls; Leah jumps instantly at the sound and moves closer to Jake. Jake's fingers brush over Leah's in a comforting way but they are gone as soon as they came. Leah looks to him and sends him a small smile to show she'll be okay.

Jane is by the group in no time. "Sorry for the wait. I was with Aro…" She says and smirks to Felix. Felix winks to Jane.

"We need to start moving." Felix turns to Leah. "Are we going to have a problem? I'm sure Jane wouldn't mind running down to that quaint town of yours and finding your brother for you. I'm sure she'd take great interest in him." Felix smirks.

"You already know there's not going to be a problem." Leah says bitterly. "You have everything against us. We are your puppets."

"And that's how we like it." Felix says. He grabs Leah's wrists tightly. Leah yelps in slight pain and surprise. "Maybe I can make you do something I'd enjoy much more than you pouncing on puny vampires."

Leah dramatizes a shiver of disgust for the flirtatious vampire. "I'm sure these vampires will be much more entertaining than you are." Leah says to him and tries to pull out of his grip, however Felix tightens his grip.

He pulls Leah closer; her face is inches from his. "See that necklace we placed on you, it holds great power. Do you remember the feeling of feeling Jane's talent the first time?" Leah doesn't answer him, he knows she remembers. Who could ever forget such torture? That necklace has the power centralized in the gem in the middle of the necklace. It's a blood stone. Your blood is in there, mixed with Jane's venom. Surrounding the stone is silver, it's rather ironic because fictionally silver is the fall of a werewolf, this could be the source of your end as well. On the silver piece is a chip that heats up slightly. The heated silver triggers a reaction between the blood and the venom leaving the victim in an unbearable amount of pain. Do you know how the chip decides to heat?" She doesn't answer him and he pulls out a small metal pad with a single button. "A press this, the longer I press it, the hotter the metal becomes, the more painful the experience. Quite brilliant right?" Felix says and he is creepily serious.

"You are psycho." Leah says and pulls her arm out of his grip. "Let's just get this over with." Leah turns and sees a vampire had a Jake in a grip that overpowered the strong shifter.

"That's the spirit, dear. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can take you back to my place." Felix winks.

The vampire lets go of the struggling Jake when Felix gives the signal and Jake runs to Leah and wraps his arms around her. He leans close to me; she can smell and feel everything. She can smell the forest smell growing stronger on him every minute they spend in these foreign woods. Some people, Leah think, just belong in the woods. Jake is one of those people.

"I'm never going to let them hurt you." He quietly whispers and Leah knows that no one else heard it but her. His words comfort Leah and she feels relief.

"How touching…" Jane says sarcastically. "Let's get going."

Felix turns to Leah. "Leah, Jake, morph."

And on that order, Jake and Leah run into the woods and change forms.

_Are you okay?_ Jake's voice comes into Leah's head.

_I'm great. Let's just do this so I can go back to bed. _Leah says and she hears Jake laugh slightly.

_I'm with you, I'm not going anywhere._ Jake says to her and Leah knows he's not talking about their mission. He's talking about the threat of the necklace around her neck that quickly became a heavy weight to carry.

They get to a clearing, there is a vampire couple leaning over limp bodies. One, the woman, has long, wavy red hair that fell to her middle-low back. The man had black hair, the blackest Leah had ever seen. They were dressed fancy as if today was a big celebration. The woman wore a beautiful dress and the man, a soft button-down shirt and slacks.

Felix comes by Leah's side out of nowhere. "Feeding time is when vampires are at their most vulnerable. When I pat your head, jump on top of the girl and look vicious. Let's do this."

And on that cue, the troops leapt from hiding and ran across the clearing. The couple looks up in shock and begins to try to flee but the coven members have them cornered.

"Hello Elizabeth and Darius Gringe." Felix says to them. "I've heard a lot about you, I'm Felix, recruiter of the Volturi coven. Pleasure to finally come across you, and on such a nice day."

This is when you knew Felix was lying, it wasn't a beautiful day, the sky was full of smoke from something in Volterra and it is creating the air to become very, very thick.

"Aro is already aware of our choice on the coven. He has asked us previously on several occasions." Darius says to Felix. "We do not wish to join."

"We thought you'd say that, we didn't think it would hurt to try." Felix says and then he pats Leah on the head as his cue. Leah's heart races, couldn't it just be easy? He pats her head again and Leah leaps to the girl, the girl yelps as her back hits the ground. Leah holds her in place. Darius tries to come after me but Felix grabs him and locks him in a grip only Felix would be able to pull off. Leah snarls to play up her part. The girl jerks around beneath Leah's paws.

"Aro is becoming impatient with you, Darius. He is used to having things his way. Do you like our new coven members? Pretty classy huh?" Felix says. "Now, I'll ask you again…" during the pause Leah snarls and snaps when Elizabeth tries to soothe the monster that is over her. "Would your wife and you like to join our coven?" The man looks at Leah and then back to Felix, and then to Jake, the other big monster that is supposed to be mortal enemy to vampires but somehow is working with them.

"Don't hurt her." The man says seriously.

"Darius…" The woman breathes softly and Leah's stomach clenches. The woman is probably terrified and confused; she doesn't want to join the coven but doesn't really have a choice in the matter.

"We aren't hurting her…" Felix says calmly. "That's Leah, a new recruit. She has a certain… dislike… for vampires. Pretty scary huh?"

The man looks from his wife to Felix and then back to her. She squirms in Leah's arms. "We'll go. Just let her go." Leah doesn't wait for the order; she jumps off the unnaturally cold, firm body and back on to the soft grass or the forest floor. Leah runs behind a bush and changes back into her human form. The woman jumps up and runs to her husband. They embrace each other and she takes his hand.

"I'm sorry; I couldn't let them hurt you." He whispers to her as he gently pushes the hair out of her face and behind her ear. She gives him a forgiving smile and kisses him softly on his lips. Leah's stomach clenches again and she swears she's going to be sick. The man's gentle act showed all of his love for the woman which made his words sting so much more as the rushed through Leah's ears and sunk all the way into her stomach.

A hand takes Leah's when she is sure she can't stop herself from throwing up. She looks over and sees Jake, in human form, is trying to comfort her.

"Let's go home everyone." Felix instructs and he begins walking back to the castle, leading everyone. It is deadly quiet and Leah knows that it is because everyone is afraid to say anything that might be taken the wrong way.

When they reach the castle grounds, Leah looks over to Jake and he seems to understand. He nods and let's go of Leah's hand. "See you in a second." He whispers. Leah nods and runs up to her room. She barely makes it before she throws up in the toilet. The images of tonight playing over and over in her head, Leah pouncing on the small, fragile girl; the girl's troubled breath even though she didn't need to breathe; the man's horrible choice; and the soft, gentle love embrace the couple shared. Leah throws up again in disgust for herself.

_There's a reason she's doing this right?_ She thinks. _If she didn't do it Jake and she would be dead. But does that make what she did today okay?_ She couldn't keep doing this for her own life; she didn't treasure her life that much. But then, she did treasure Jake's and she was pretty certain she'd do anything to spare his life. Maybe that's really why she scared that couple to death tonight, because if she didn't _Jake_ would have died. And Leah couldn't bare that.

The door opens and Jake rushes into the bathroom. He sees Leah and she looks up to him from the toilet. Leah stands and Jake rushes to her. His arms wrap around her and pull her against him tightly.

"I'm sorry." Jake whispers.

"For what?" Leah says.

"I'm sorry you had to do that. I'm sorry you got sick and I wasn't here to help you. I'm sorry that it wasn't me standing over that girl instead of you. I'm just sorry for everything." Jake whispers and his breath touches Leah's neck where her hair had moved to her back leaving her neck exposed. It dances over the skin and sends a warm radiance throughout Leah.

"Don't be sorry. I just… I need you to just hold me. Whenever I would do bad things at home, I'd run to my mom and have her hold me. Can you do that please? I don't have her here and I really just need that." Leah says softly. Jake grips her closer to his body as he guides them to the bed.

Jake holds Leah in his arms in the bed. "This is probably the worst. It can only go up from here." Jake smiles positively.

"I hope so," Leah whispers; she closes her eyes and falls asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Steel Bars and Blossoms Part 6

It has been a few months since Leah got sick after her first assignment. Leah wakes up every day remembering that night, the night she realized she had no control over her life anymore. Leah wasn't upset because she caught vampires and forced them to join a coven they had no interest in being a part of, it was more the fact that Leah realized she was in their hands, the hands of her enemy and she could do nothing about it. She was supposed to do whatever they wanted, and Leah feared that recruiting vampires wasn't the only thing they would have their new pets do.

However, it's been pretty slow, a few vampire recruits here and there. Sometimes Aro asked Leah to help Gianna with the meals. That was the worst. Leah had the privilege of helping the stupid traitor bring in a food source for the monsters that were keeping her captive. A lot of time it consisted of joining the humans on the "tour of the castle" and making sure all of them are convinced that they are safe so they don't try to run. Leah's role in the whole charade is that she is a historian that has recently begun residing in the castle. Leah and Gianna lead the victims into the big, marble room and she'd have to watch the last moments of their lives.

Sometimes, Leah had nightmares and would wake up screaming. Jake would comfort her and would hold her. He'd tell her that it would all be okay and Leah would slowly drift to sleep.

Today, Leah wakes up to the sun shining brightly through the window. She didn't have a nightmare last night, but then again she didn't have to witness the massacre of twenty plus humans yesterday. Leah looks over to Jake and notices he is still asleep. Leah admires how the golden, newly risen sun shines over him making him look picturesque effortlessly. Leah moves a little as she is trying to carefully get out of bed. Jake's arm moves gently to rest across her as if to ask her to stay. She smiles and looks to him again. She then proceeds to gently slide a little, and she jumps when she hears him speak.

"It's too early to be awake right now, Leah. Go back to sleep." Jake says tiredly.

"I don't want to sleep, I can't sleep." Leah says to him. "You can keep sleeping."

Leah slides again, Jake grips the fabric of her shirt, because he doesn't want her to leave. If she leaves, and he stays and sleeps he can't watch out for her, he can't protect her. She needs to stay with him always. Leah stops moving, she turns to Jake. "What's wrong Jake?"

"Don't Leave Leah." Jake says finally opening his eyes for the first time this morning.

"I won't go far. You can stay and sleep. I just need to walk around." Leah says.

"If you walk around, we both do. We are pack animals Leah." Jake says as he slowly sits up.

Leah sighs. "Now I feel bad for waking you up."

"Don't feel bad, I got a good night sleep last night. No nightmares right?" Jake asks as if he worries that she had one and he was too deep in sleep that he missed it. He stands up and stretches and slowly makes his way to change into another pair of shorts and a t-shirt that the Volturi have provided with Leah and Jake, after they took their clothes and searched for similar clothes. Aro called it "hospitality", Jake called it "creepy and unwanted" however, Leah didn't hear Jake complain about his new, soft t-shirts and nice, high class jeans anymore. He seemed to give up on the fact that they were going to provide Leah and him with clothes as long as they were under their "care" (another word Aro used to make his actions sound sweeter than they actually were).

Leah follows his actions, not in the mood to argue with Jake about her being able to protect herself. Leah reaches in one of her drawers and grabs one of the lace trimmed camisoles, deep purple today, and soft pair of black, cotton shorts. Leah quickly walks to the bathroom and throws on her clothes. She looks in the mirror; her appearance has changed in the past months. Leah's hair is longer, it falls passed her shoulders now, surprisingly it hasn't become a huge nuisance when she morphs, her russet skin has faded a little from not being in the sun or outdoors except for at night on her missions. Leah runs a brush through her hair and brushes her teeth and then she leaves the bathroom. Jake gives her a small smile and then without a word they leave the room. Leah follows Jake who seems to have a destination in mind. When they get to a door that looks like it leads outside a voice comes from the hall. Leah jumps.

"Trying to escape are we?" Aro asks calmly as he looks them over.

"We just need some fresh air, isn't there a place we can go to get that where you guys won't worry about us escaping?" Jake asks.

"The gardens, it is watched by guards all the time. You are more than welcome to go there. We wouldn't like our guests to feel like prisoners now would we?" Aro says calmly and smiles a little.

"Of course, we wouldn't want to feel like we were here against our will." Leah says bitterly and Jake elbows her slightly to warn her to get herself into check. "What I mean is we'd greatly appreciate visiting the gardens, I'm sure they are wonderful."

"One of the most beautiful sites on the castle, only your beauty can top it dear." Aro smiles as he says his flirty words.

"Thank you," Leah says as she turns towards the door, desperate to get away from the old, flirtatious man. Jake is right behind Leah as she opens the door.

"Be back before five in the counseling room, you have a very important mission tonight." Aro says and the door shuts immediately after.

"I hate when he tries to flirt with me." Leah says as they follow the path leading to the gardens. "I feel like he thinks I'm just an average human girl that will fall for his sweet compliments."

"Yeah, to think you'd ever be involved with him is repulsive." Jake says.

Leah feels like changing the subject. "Do you miss her?"

Jake doesn't need to clarify who she means, he already knows. He misses Nessie of course, but he quickly forgets her when Leah is in danger which seems to be often these days. "Every day." Jake says and he almost cringes at how devoted that response made him seem when really, he wasn't as devoted as he should be to her, Leah took up his mind often. Jake had to continuously push her to the back of his thoughts, he didn't want to think about her, it wasn't right, he needed to focus on other things, like getting out of Volterra and getting back to being devoted to Nessie the way imprints usually work.

"You'll see her soon. Have you written to her?" Leah asks him.

"I did about a month ago. No reply." Jake says sadly. He really had hoped to hear back from her by now. Nessie was important to him, even though he thought of Leah and her safety a lot these days, Nessie was almost in his thoughts as much as Leah. He needed to know it was worth it, he needed to know Nessie was safe, and he needed to know that she was managing without him.

"Maybe the Volturi are reading it over to know if they need to prepare for combat." Leah says. They finally reach the gardens and Leah is amazed by all of the colors.

"Maybe." Jake says but a small piece of him calls out that she has moved on and forgotten about him. The small part of him tells him that she doesn't care about him anymore and that she's a lot happier without him around.

Leah and Jake spend the rest of the day talking in the garden. They talk about serious things like their family, and both of their dreams about their future, and they talk about nonsensical things. At five 'til five they walk up to the castle and go into the counseling room. Felix barges in with a bigger crowd than normal.

"Are you ready to go Mutt and Pup?" Felix smiles.

Leah nods her head, "Let's get this over with Felix." Felix gives a knowing smile as if he knows something Leah and Jake don't.

They run to a clearing in the woods, and Leah wonders if all vampires are the same. It seems like they always go to a clearing to find the new recruits. They come to a stop and Felix tells everyone to be quiet. Jake looks to Leah, as a dog he seems more innocent, maybe that's because Leah thinks of dogs as being these innocent, beautiful creatures. Leah gives him a comforting smile as she poses to attack. The group of vampires enter the clearing, they are on alert, but still proceed. The clearing is long so Leah and Jake are unable to get a clear picture of them. There are five of them, but we are unable to see their forms clearly. The group stops moving and makes eye contact with the Volturi group.

"We were wondering when you would show up." A familiar male voice calls from the edge of the clearing. "It's about time." Leah moves forward trying to get a better picture of the group. Was it someone they had already caught? Had they been able to get out? When Leah gets closer she stops in her tracks as she recognizes the long, perfect blonde hair of one of the girls, the pixie cut of the other, the crazy, honey blonde hair of one of the males and the huge build of the other male. She tilts her head, trying to recognize the other girl with them. She is younger in age, but still beautiful. Her hair is a recognizable bronze but… it couldn't be? Leah gasps and steps back. Nessie wasn't supposed to be this age until she was about seven. Last time Leah saw her, she was four, it couldn't have been so much time. Jake comes to Leah's side to see what is wrong but he locks eyes with Nessie and he forgets about Leah for a moment.

Jake focuses on the teenage girl in front of him. Her bronze hair has gotten longer with her age and it is in perfect ringlets. Her pale skin and rosy cheeks are as perfect as ever. But she's so old; it couldn't have been this much time. Nessie smiles to Jake and runs to him. She sinks to her knees in her faded blue jeans and nice top, no doubt her outfit was picked out by Alice. She wraps her arms around him and holds him in a close embrace.

"Jake…" Leah hears Nessie breathe. Leah runs into nearby brush and morphs back. She pulls on her clothes and rushes out.

"I didn't say you could change out of your form, Leah." Felix says.

Nessie lets go of Jake and he looks to Felix and then to Leah. He didn't notice she had even left. He was so happy to see Nessie.

"Is this some sick joke Felix?" Leah asks him and Felix moves closer and brings his group of followers. Felix smiles and shakes his head.

"We have orders from the Master." Felix says. "Your friends have been requested to the castle, as soon as possible. If they don't come voluntarily, you know what we do to people who don't come voluntarily."

Leah looks over to the Cullens.

"That won't be necessary, Felix." Emmett says. "We didn't come here just to tour Volterra, we came here to talk to Aro about our friends."

"And you will, let's head back to the castle. Jeremy, will you lead the way?" Felix asks and Jeremy nods. He begins venturing back. "Please Cullens, you know how Aro hates to wait."

Jake takes off and Nessie's gaze follows him. Felix looks to Leah and shows the silver metal pad.

"He's just changing forms!" Leah shouts so he doesn't press the button, "Calm down Felix."

Jake comes out of the brush and rushes to Leah after hearing what she said. He looks to Felix. "I'm not going anywhere, Felix." He says angrily. Nessie rushes to him and throws her arms around him. Jake wraps her arms around her and pulls her tightly against his skin.

"Oh Jake, I missed you. I'm sorry it took so long for us to get here." Nessie says.

"It's okay Nessie." Jake comforts her and runs his hands through her hair.

"This is… touching, but we must get going. Emmett, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper let's move." Felix orders. They all glare at him but follow the troop of vampires back to the castle. Leah notices Emmett's arm around Rose, keeping her close. Then she takes notice of Jasper's gentle arms around Alice's waist protectively and then finally she notices Jake has done the same with Nessie. Suddenly, Leah feels cold and alone.

A strong arm rests on Leah's shoulder. She turns and sees Felix, inches away. "Tough picture perfect moment, Pup? I bet you wish you hadn't tried to protect that one huh?" Felix says as he moves closer. "I can help you not feel so alone anymore. I can help you forget about that _dog_."

"Felix, please just stop." Leah says, she speeds up her walk and ends up catching up to the group of Cullens and Jake. Leah feels like the outsider in this group and she starts to box herself away from everyone, then Alice reaches for her and pulls her against her.

"I'm so happy you are okay." She smiles to Leah. Leah is a little shocked by the sudden closeness. Alice and she had been friends before she left with Jake, but she never thought they were close, she always thought that Alice was just being nice. Leah smiles to her. "Why is Felix acting like that around you?" Alice asks.

"He's trying to convince her to be with him." Jake cuts in and Leah looks back to him and sees Nessie leaning all over him. She's all grown up, Leah thinks, physically and mentally. "He's been after her the whole time we've been here. Leah never falls for it though. He's not her type and she can do so much better than him. It would be unthinkable for Leah to kiss him." Jake says. Leah gets angry because Jake is acting like he knows Leah so well, and she let him get to know her before she knew he had the intent to become completely devoted to Nessie as soon as she showed back up. Felix was right about one thing; Jake would never love her the way she needed him to. Leah brushes off his comments and continues to keep walking.

"Jake…" She hears Nessie whisper. "I really missed you." She says softly and Leah hears them come to a stop. She glances back and sees them kissing very passionately, Leah's stomach clenches and as her body threatens to force her to cry. They break apart and Jake says that he missed her and thought of her constantly.

Leah's emotions boil, she is angry Jake is acting like they haven't spent three months together sharing things neither of them have told anyone else, she's sad because she is finally hit with reality that Nessie and Jake are going to be together, and she's afraid that he'll leave her in Volterra. She looks to Alice apologetically and slides out of her arm's hold on her. Leah walks over to Felix.

"Hey, Pup." Felix smiles to her.

"Leah, what are you doing?" Jake asks her.

"The unthinkable." Leah says to Jake. Leah looks to Felix, "Now, how about that kiss?" Felix smirks as Leah grips Felix's button-down collar and pulls him closer to her. Felix wraps his arms around Leah's waist and pulls her so her body is against his hard body.

"That's what I'm talking about, Pup." Felix whispers as her lips are inches in front of his. And then their lips crash against eachother's.

A/N: Hey, don't kill me, I know it's been a slow update but that's why I made this chapter kind of longer. And I've been stuck on how to perfectly execute what I want to happen. Also don't kill me because there is Nessie/Jake lovey doveyness in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry the update is late, hope the next update is sooner. Bye loves, thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

His cold arms wrap around her and pull her closer, urging her to continue through the kiss. And she does, she doesn't know why she's still kissing him, or why his lips feel so smooth and so nice on hers. Leah pulls herself against him, wanting more. It's been so long since she's kissed someone like this that it awakens her from within and the kiss seems to radiate warmth throughout her. Maybe that's what she needed, passionate human touch, someone showing her how special she is. That sounds awful, she hated that she needed this little moment to feel better about herself, because she was sure of herself, she knew she was special and what she deserved, what she didn't realize was how much she missed kissing. Granted, Felix's kissing had nothing on Sam's kissing but it just made her feel less like the unwanted, frigid bitch that the pack saw her as and more like a girl that could actually be worth kissing. Leah hated this realization about herself because she had always wanted to have more pride and dignity in herself, who needed a man? But this kiss made her realize that sometimes, even though it was the wrong person kissing her, she liked being kissed and she liked the feeling of being wanted and hated the feeling of being lonely.

Leah is jerked out of her thoughts as she feels Felix's hand slowly glide down her back and reach the destination of her butt. He squeezes her butt as they kiss and that's where Leah realizes how crazy she's being, everyone was around watching her kiss a vampire (the very being she has hated ever since she knew of their existence in her world). She pulls away from Felix and swats his arm away from her. There's no doubt her jealousy was obvious, she just hoped it wasn't as obvious as she thought. Leah's emotions are all over the place. She shouldn't have liked that kiss, but she did. She shouldn't have let it go that long or that far, but she did. She shouldn't care that Jake saw her kiss Felix, but she did and she cared so much that she was dying to know what he was thinking; she'd probably do anything to know. She shouldn't care what the Cullens were thinking, but she did, she especially cared what Alice thought for some reason.

Leah breaks away from her thoughts and looks to Felix who has a smug smile, basically saying "I told you, you wouldn't be able to resist kissing me".

Leah steps away from him slowly, her chest constricts as she thinks about turning around to face everyone, but she swallows her fear and lets her pride shine through. She begins walking to the castle again as if nothing had happened.

"What the fuck was that?" Jake shouts at Leah. Leah keeps walking, she wasn't ready for this, and she should have thought about the ramifications before she walked right over to Felix and kissed him like she hasn't kissed someone in years.

Leah hears him move towards her but she keeps walking, she doesn't want to see the look of disgrace Jake will give her for kissing a monster like Felix. Leah can almost taste human blood in her mouth, sure he didn't taste like blood; he actually tasted sweet, sweet like sprinkles… Leah shakes that thought away. Now Leah couldn't stop herself from tasting blood in her mouth, it tasted like copper and she hated it, she needed water to wash the taste out; she needed to get to the castle. Leah couldn't get the image of those innocent lives she led to slaughter; she couldn't shake the image of Felix over them, one girl from last week in particular, she was seventeen, maybe sixteen, she had come with her family, they were all so happy, Leah remembered wishing her family was that happy. Leah remembers her scream, she remembers the way she searched for her brother, and all hope was lost in her eyes when she rested on her brother's cold, still form. That was probably why the girl stuck with Leah, because she had a brother with her, a brother she cared about, like Leah cared for Seth.

Jake can't believe Leah actually kissed that disgusting monster. There's no way he is letting her go without an explanation as to why she kissed him. Was it just some act of defiance against him or was it something more? She didn't actually have feelings for that _leech_… did she?

Jake grabs Leah's arm and forces her to face him. Leah avoids his eyes at all cost, she couldn't look into them, they would shatter her, and then she wouldn't be able to hide how she was wrong.

"What the hell Leah?" Jake says as if Leah didn't hear the first question. Leah looks up and finally meets those perfect brown eyes and it's like she's hit a wall. He's so disappointed in her and his disappointment only leads to her being more disappointed with herself. As Leah continues to look into his eyes, without answering, she sees other emotions along with disappointment; she sees confusion, betrayal and something she can't quite put her finger on.

"Jake…" Nessie says calmly and her hand rests on Jake's shoulder. Jake gets pulled away from his focus on Leah, he'd forgotten about everyone around. He had just gotten so angry about the kiss that he forgot his imprint was present and that everyone was watching his reaction to the kiss. Jake turns to meet Nessie's confused, sad eyes and he hates himself for allowing his emotions to get the best of him. He shouldn't have done that, especially with an audience, especially with Nessie. If she found out about whatever Jake was feeling for his Beta, it would surely hurt her and Jake didn't think that went over well with imprints, for either person involved.

Leah looks to Jake and Nessie sharing a secret, silent moment and she's reminded why she kissed Felix. She hated the feeling she got when they were around and together. She hated how she grew tense and jealous. What she hated the most, she wanted to be that disgusting half-breed when she saw them together. Leah jerks her arm away and continues to the castle that is a lot closer than Leah thought. She walks on, this time Jake doesn't follow.

The group is lead into the counsel room and Leah stands off to the side away from everyone. Aro seems to be the only one to notice, because he continuously glances over to her while he talks to the group.

"Well, Renesmee, you are a minor, I can't allow you to make a decision on your life on your own. Where are your parents?" Aro asks.

"They couldn't make it." Nessie says gently. "I'm not leaving unless you release them."

"Nessie…" Jake says and pulls Nessie close so she can face him. "That's ridiculous, you can't do that."

Nessie leans closer to Jake and Leah feels her heart sink because she thinks she's going to kiss him again. "I can't leave you here, not because of me. I can't." She whispers and her thumb strokes his cheek as her hand rests on his neck.

"I can't let you stay here; you don't need to be here." Jake says.

"Why couldn't your parents come?" Aro says as if he didn't see the touching romantic scene that just happened.

"Because… I didn't tell them I was coming." Nessie says as she steps away from Jake and looks to Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose.

"And you all condoned this behavior?" Aro asks and you can hear the smirk in his voice.

"We thought we would be able to protect her, and her parents would never go for her coming to Volterra." Alice says.

"I'm sure they are worried sick at this moment." Aro says as he eyes Nessie. "Protect her? There is nothing to protect her from, we are all on the same team here."

"Bullshit, you've wanted her life in your hands since you found out about her existence. She needs all of the protection in the world. Like you said, she's a minor, she can't make this decision, you need her parents here, so you can't decide anything right now." Jake says.

"Jake, you know we don't condone that behavior here. I'll have to ask you to leave." Aro says.

"I'm not going anywhere." Jake clenches his fists. "She needs to go home; she needs to stay out of your grasps."

"Jacob Black, I'll tell you again, watch your tongue and leave this room." Aro says and his eyes meet Leah's. She suddenly feels cold and dark when she looks into his eyes. He's never like that, he's never purely evil. Leah shivers. "I'd like to talk to Renesmee away from you for a moment. Please leave, before we must escort you out. Leah, you may go as well."

Leah leaves as soon as those words leave his mouth; she turns quickly and walks swiftly to her room, ready to get away from that room and those people. Jake turns to Nessie, kisses her on the forehead and then leaves reluctantly. He walks to his room when he notices the headache he has. When he opens the door he notices Leah sitting on the windowsill looking outside. Jake notices how sad and lost she looks. It's strange how Nessie and Leah can't seem to exist in the same world and Jake is never the same person with both of them. With Nessie, he's gentle all of the time and constantly worried about her breaking or shattering. But with Leah, he fights with her, his anger gets the best of him and he knows Leah can take care of herself but he still worries sometimes.

"So…" Jake says, "Are we going to talk about that scene you caused in the forest?"

Leah sighs and turns to face him. Jake wonders why her eyes are so sad, she seemed to enjoy herself when she was kissing Felix, why was she acting so strange? But most importantly why did she kiss him in the first place?

Leah's warm eyes meet his, he didn't get it did he? Would he ever get it?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Leah looks out the window as she hears Jake pace around the room frustrated. Leah had refused to answer Jake's questions (mainly asking why she kissed him) about fifty times. Leah could feel his frustration with her radiate throughout the room, she hated being able to tell his emotions, especially when he wasn't feeling what she wanted him to feel.

Leah had the chance to read part of the letter her mother had sent her before Jake got in the room, her mother's written words echoed in her head repeatedly.

_Leah, you've always been strong, please stay strong. I'm so proud of you Leah; I just wanted you to know that. Stay strong, do what you must do there and then come home safely. We miss you._

Her mother's words seem to make her realize how ridiculous she has been about this whole thing. She shouldn't let Jake make her weak, she's always tried to be strong, why should that change now? She needed to do her time here and then get home to her mom and Seth, that's what she should be focused on. She shouldn't be focused on a stupid, imprinted Alpha who happened to drive her crazy sometimes. She definitely shouldn't be focused on a vampire who kills the people she was made to protect.

She would need to get over the fact that she kissed a killer, it's over; sure it was a dumb mistake made under impulsive actions of jealousy but she shouldn't focus on it anymore, she couldn't change it now.

Most importantly, she would need to get over the fact that Jake didn't seem to reciprocate her feelings, and that he was in fact imprinted to a half breed: half enemy, half ally.

Leah takes a deep breath and turns to look at Jake. He has stopped pacing the room and is sitting on the bed watching her. What was she supposed to say to him? This was so awkward, she couldn't tell him why she kissed Felix, she wasn't even sure herself, and she definitely couldn't change the topic now, Jake was determined to get answers.

"Why did you kiss him?" Jake asks Leah exhausted from asking but still desperate to know. He couldn't explain the pain and anger he felt when he saw her walk over to that leech, when he saw their lips meet, and how much his anger increased tenfold when Felix grabbed Leah's ass. He needed to know why she would kiss him, and he needed to figure out why she was so freaked out right now.

Jake watches Leah close her eyes and sigh; when she opens them he seems her renewed fire, as if she wasn't in a strange state for the past half hour.

"I don't know Jake. Does it matter who I kiss?" Leah asks feeling stronger, she couldn't disappoint her mom, she needed to be strong, and she needed to be herself again. She needed to forget about Jake, he was destined to someone else and Leah hated this feeling of being the pathetic girl needing to be loved. She felt this once with Sam, and she promised herself never again, and now look at her, she was being pathetic again. She needed to pull herself together, and that was starting right now.

"Well, yeah it matters if he is a disgusting leech." Jake says, slightly relieved to see fire in her eyes again but still frustrated with her.

"You kissed a disgusting leech as well! How is my kiss any different than yours?" Leah asks him and moves closer to him.

"Nessie doesn't kill innocent humans; she never has and never will." Jake says to Leah, and he stands up from the bed and moves closer to Leah. "Felix is a disgusting pervert who kills innocent humans and pressures his own kind to live a life they do not want. There is a huge difference. He is part of the reason you have nightmares so often. How could you ever kiss him?"

"You don't know if Nessie has killed, you've been absent for the past few months, and you never know what she will do. She was made to kill humans, just like we were made to kill them. We can't fight our instincts like they can't fight theirs. She will kill someone, it's bound to happen, and you'll kiss her as if it doesn't matter." Leah says to him.

"Nessie is different, she doesn't want to kill." Jake says.

"She doesn't want to, but she lusts for the taste of warm, human blood. She enjoyed those blood bags Carlisle had; imagine how much better it will taste when she kills a living human being, an innocent human being. Instincts are hard to control Jake." Leah says.

"Is that what your kiss with Felix was, an instinct?" Jake says and he is really close to Leah. "Could you just not control your desire to kiss those murderous lips? Could you taste the blood Leah, the blood of all the innocents killed? Could you hear the screams as he pulled you against him?"

"Why does it matter how my senses reacted during the kiss? I didn't think you'd be so perverted and want all the nasty details." Leah says as she steps back from Jake but doesn't break his intimidating glare.

"Is that what you think of my worrying of you? That I'm a pervert and I'm just dying to hear all of the details of the kiss?" Jake asks.

"Yes." Leah spits at him. "I don't need you to worry about me Jake. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. You have other people to worry about, namely Nessie, you should be focused on her life right now since she's in a room surrounded by vampires that have recently made it their career to coerce people into lives they do not want. Instead of worrying about her though Jake, you are in here arguing with me, worried about a two second kiss that will never be repeated and has absolutely nothing to do with you." Leah finishes harshly.

Jake is hurt by her words, and the truth behind her words burns even more. He should be worried about Nessie, she should be the only thing occupying his mind, but she isn't. He's so consumed with Leah and the fact that she is kissing a murderous vampire. But truth is, it didn't matter who she was kissing, he would be upset about it even if it was an amazing guy who genuinely cared about Leah, Jake would still be upset with her for kissing him and he would still be having this conversation with her.

Leah takes notice of the hurt in her eyes but she forces herself to not care. She needed to put space between Jake and she, before Nessie came Leah had been letting Jake in, that needed to stop.

"You're right, I should be thinking about Nessie. I should be worrying about her and if she's going to have to stay in this hell hole with us. I should be worrying about that but somehow, my pack is more important to me. You looked upset after the kiss and I got worried about you. I'm the reason all of this is happening, I should have had a better plan when we showed up, I shouldn't have let you stay, I should have got you out of this mess. I'm responsible for all the crap that happens here, I'm responsible for your nightmares, I'm responsible for the images you will never be able to get out of your head, I'm responsible for the way you have to walk around here while some of these monsters look at you like they could eat you up, and I'm responsible for that kiss. This is all my fault, and maybe I can't think about Nessie because she has so many people thinking about her, and you, you just have me right now so I can do the little act of looking out for you." Jake says and he realizes he has moved closer to Leah, inches from her.

Leah tries to think of something witty to say to him, to show that she doesn't care deeply for him but she can't. "You don't need to look out for me." Leah says softly, and she cringes at how vulnerable she sounds to herself. Jake had a way of making her go soft, and that frustrated her, she didn't want to be soft, she wanted to be cold and push him away.

"I know you don't. You are strong, but I can't stop myself from looking out for you. I'm to blame for all of this crap." Jake says softly back to her.

"It's not your fault. I don't blame you at all, so stop blaming yourself." Leah tells him finding a little bit of her strength again. She was getting exhausted from this emotional rollercoaster she has been on all day long. She blamed crazy hormones, she was ready to go to sleep and let this day end.

Jake is about to try to explain why it's his fault, and how it would always be his fault when there is a knock at the door.

Leah steps away from Jake and walks over to the door. She opens the door and Nessie is there. Nessie gives Leah a small smile. Leah nods and looks over to Jake. "Come on in." Leah says.

"Thanks." Nessie says.

"Nessie?" Jake asks. Nessie runs to Jake and wraps her arms around him. "What's wrong?"

"I have to leave again Jake." Nessie whispers to him and Leah notices the relief on Jake's face, the last thing he would want was Nessie to be caught up in this.

"I'm going to leave you two alone." Leah says feeling uncomfortable.

"You don't have to go…" Nessie says politely but Leah knows she really wants some alone time with Jake.

"I don't really care to see a lovey dovey reunion and goodbye." Leah says and she leaves, closing the door behind her.

"Well what a coincidence Pup." Felix's voice makes Leah jump and curse herself. This would happen to her, she would happen to walk out of her room as soon as Felix is outside of her door.

"I really don't want to talk to you." Leah says bitterly.

Felix gives Leah a cocky smirk, leans against the wall and says, "Maybe we should just kiss then."

"That was a mistake Felix. It shouldn't have happened. You just got lucky, and it's never going to happen again." Leah says as she begins to walk off away from him.

Felix reaches out and grabs her wrist. He pulls her against her. Leah slaps him when his hand rests on her waist and travels lower towards her butt. He doesn't flinch or anything he just moves his hand away with a cocky smile on his face. "I might be able to believe that if I wasn't on the other side of that kiss and I didn't feel how you reacted to the kiss. You kissed me back dearie, and you kissed me back passionately." Felix whispers huskily.

Leah tries to pull herself away from him, but his grip tightens so that it isn't painful but that she can't walk away. "I was pretending you were someone else…" Leah says to him, hoping it will hurt his ego and he'd let her go but no such luck, he just gives her that smirk.

"No you weren't. You just hate how much you enjoyed it." He smiles to her.

"You are an impossibly cocky asshole. It was a mistake, and it's never, ever going to happen again. I'm just doing my time here then I'm leaving. Don't go getting ideas that that kiss meant anything between us. You know why I kissed you, and now you know it will never happen again. Stop trying to get to me." Leah says and she jerks her arm away and walks away.

"You know where to find me Pup when you are ready for round two." Felix calls.

"In your dreams, Leech Boy." Leah calls back as she walks away with one destination on her mind: the garden.

**A/N: Hey guys, thanks for reading, hopefully you guys like this update a little bit better than the last. The action and drama is about to be cranked up, and the romance. Thanks for sticking with me, it's funny because half of the reviewers are Pro-Felix and the other half is Anti-Felix. So I hope I'm not disappointing you guys with the plotline. And I understand that Leah is a strong, independent person (and I have always admired her for that) I just think she is having a tough time, and sometimes it's hard to be strong all of the time and I see Leah having a vulnerable side…. So I'm sorry if I've disappointed you with her character thus far. I hope to update soon, I didn't get around to answering reviews this time but thank you for all of them. You guys are awesome! Hope you guys enjoyed. Until next time, Courtney.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Leah jumps awake as she is shaken, she doesn't remember where she is or how she got there but when she wakes up she's looking at a deep pink sky with the trees framing the pink with a dark green. Leah looks to her left, no one, then to her right, Jake. She sighs and closes her eyes. "What is it now?" She says.

"I've been looking for you all day." Jake says and Leah hears him lie down beside her. "I should have known you'd come here."

"What's wrong now?" Leah asks.

"Nothing is wrong, the Cullens left. Alice really wanted to say goodbye to you, but you were nowhere to be found. I didn't know you guys were so close." Jake says.

"We aren't." Leah says. "She's just being kind, she's always kind." Leah sits up and looks to Jake when she realizes he said something: _all day_. She'd been here all day, asleep. "You said all day, I've been missing for a day?"

"Yeah, the last time anyone saw you was last night, when you left our room. Felix said he saw you walk down the hallway." Leah notices the way he says Felix's name with anger but she doesn't comment on it.

No wonder she was so well rested, she had slept almost all day. "You've been looking for me all day?" Leah asks Jake.

Jake sits up and looks into her eyes. "Since the Cullens left at 5 in the morning." Jake looks down, "A part of me hoped I wouldn't find you, maybe you had gotten away, away from this stupid place." Jake looks back into Leah's eyes, "But then I didn't wish that because something told me you wouldn't have left me, no matter how much I acted like an asshole yesterday."

Leah smiles a little at this. "I wouldn't have left you. I'm glad you know you were acting like an asshole."

Jake smiles at Leah. "It's still strange; I thought it would be different as time went by."

"What's still strange?" Leah asks.

"My attachment to Nessie. I have two different worlds, one with the pack, and one with Nessie and the other vampires. They don't mix well; it's a strange feeling, like you are split between your loyalty to your imprint, and your loyalty to your family." Jake says.

"Good thing you don't have to choose between your family and your imprint." Leah says.

"But you kind of do. It's so complicated. If we were at war with the Volturi, and both Nessie and a member of my pack were being attacked and I could save one, I'd have to choose."

Leah smiles trying to make the atmosphere lighter, somehow Jake was making it dark and heavy with his worrying. Leah needed to make it better for both of them. "Well that might not be so difficult depending on the member of the pack. It might be really easy for you to choose Nessie over Paul." Leah laughs a little but Jake sees right through the fake laugh.

"Yeah, but what if when Nessie returns I have to choose between protecting her, and protecting you." Jake says.

"We both know who you would choose Jake, so why are you even worried about it. It would be the right decision anyways because I can take care of myself." Leah says to Jake.

Jake looks down avoiding her eye contact. He knew who he would choose, he discovered that in one of his dreams, Leah had no idea though, and Jake prayed that it would never come down to a decision between his imprint and his Beta.

"What's wrong with you today?" Leah says. "You are never the depressing, pessimistic one. Well your pessimism never lasts this long. Are you trying to take my place?" Leah smiles to him.

"I've just had a lot of time to think today." Jake says. "It doesn't look good for us. I don't know how long the Volturi are just going to use us to recruit new members. I'm sure Aro has some other kind of plan brewing in that crazy mind of his."

"I don't doubt it." Leah says. "I'm tired of sitting around and just thinking about the horrible things that can happen." Leah believes they can survive whatever the Volturi throw at them, they've survived this long. Soon Leah will be back home, in La Push with her family.

"Me too." Jake says and gives Leah a small smile. He watches as she nervously plays with her charm necklace. He'd noticed that was a habit of hers, somehow the necklace calmed her and made her seem happier.

"Do you ever feel like part of you is dying? I feel like my wolf is dying inside of me. I've had to tame it so much. I'm scared because that's my advantage in this hellhole. That's what's going to get us out of here. My wolf can't be weak." Leah says.

"Yeah, I feel the same way." Jake says.

Leah notices him watching her play with the necklace and she lets it go. She looks around the garden, trying to think of what to say to him. She wanted the jokes and the arguing she used to have with him. His time at the castle seemed to drain him; she knew it had drained her. Or maybe Nessie had tamed him. She wanted to see the fire in his eyes again, she missed it. She missed the way he used to act sometimes before he thought, he was so consumed in his feelings his actions began before he could think. She missed it. Maybe she is being selfish but she needed some reassurance that they were going to be okay no matter what. She needed to be reassured that they weren't going to change. She would be Leah and he would be Jake, always. Leah smirks. "Remember that conversation we had in the prison cell when we first got here?"

"Yeah…" Jake wasn't sure where this was going. But then again he never knew where it was going with Leah.

"Guess you aren't going to be a virgin for long after we get back. Nessie was all over you while she was here." Leah laughs a little.

Jake shakes his head. "We are currently living in a nightmarish vampire castle and you are worried about my sex life?"

"Not worried… intrigued. How does that work? She's like five…" Leah says and fakes a gag.

"No she isn't; she ages rapidly, you know that." Jake says. He smiles a little. "Quil will be upset."

"Quil isn't a virgin…" Leah says before she thinks.

"What do you mean? He is imprinted to Claire, she's only like eight. He wouldn't have slept with anyone else."

Leah looks down and smiles. "It was before Claire."

"How would you-" Jake looks as if it finally clicked. "You slept with him?" Jake shouts shocked.

"I was in one of my destructive phases, after I had changed and everyone was in my head and I was in Sam's head." Leah says. "I know it was wrong, poor innocent Quil."

"Who else did you sleep with?" Jake asks enraged. She was his Beta, she shouldn't have slept with anyone, especially his best friend. Jake is being possessive, but he didn't care. His wolf seemed to take over his human body, and his wolf was upset that its Beta was with anyone else.

Leah sees the fire in his eyes return and she is filled with the feeling of relief. But she didn't think he'd be so upset, he never cared about what she did with her life.

"Do you think I'm a slut?" Leah asks him, hurt by his words.

"God, of course not Leah. But it just doesn't click, why would you sleep with only Quil out of everyone? And why wouldn't he tell me?" Jake says and the fire hasn't died in his eyes but he's slightly calmer.

"Fine, I slept with Embry too. That was it. Well first it was Embry, Embry came to me, he and his mom had just fought… it spiraled out of control. We knew it was stupid, but it already happened so we decided to never tell anyone about it. And then Quil… well he caught me at a moment of weakness. And you know right after the change your emotions are all over the place and the wolf is just trying to control you. Quil was there, and I was there and there was alcohol involved. I hated myself for that one because I felt like I had used him. Quil assured me that it wasn't my fault and we promised to never mention it to anyone." Leah looks down, she hadn't told anyone about that, and now that she was saying it out loud, it sounded so much worse.

"You mean you promised to never tell me…" Jake says.

Leah looks to him. "No, not everything is about you Jake."

And then Leah sees Jake snap. He grabs Leah by her shoulder, his body straddles hers and he keeps her in place.

"You fucked my best friends…" Jake says and Leah sees Jake's wolf instincts have taken over his body. Leah's heart is beating furiously in her chest but it's not out of fear, it's from the adrenaline. She should be afraid probably, knowing what could happen to someone that makes a wolf furious, knowing about what happened to Emily when Sam lashed out at her.

"Why does it matter to you who I sleep with? I'm not Nessie, I'm not even Bella." Leah says to him.

"I'm your Alpha," Jake says huskily.

"So. What?" Leah gives him attitude and his grip on her shoulder tightens, it's not painful though, it's more to assert his dominance over her.

"You kept that from me." Jake says.

"You were too consumed with pathetic Bella. You didn't even notice anyone except for her." Leah says and she sees the fire in his eyes dim a little bit. Then she sees Jake come back, and he's tamed his wolf.

"I noticed you." He says as he takes his hands off of her and gets off her. "I noticed you, Leah." Jake shakes his head and Leah sees the hurt in his eyes. "I thought I knew you. I thought I knew all of you…" Jake turns and begins walking away.

"Where are you going?" Leah sits up and asks.

"I don't know…" Jake says softly and he disappears from sight.

Leah hits her hand to her head. She was stupid. She was really, really stupid. She didn't think he'd care, she didn't think it would matter who she slept with. She had just wanted to see him react, not even angrily just react maybe a witty joke or something. Now, Leah had hurt him and she felt awful.

"Hello Leah." Aro's calm voice says.

Leah looks up and sees him holding the button that controlled her necklace. A hand wrapped around her mouth, muffling her voice.

Leah looked to Aro wide-eyed.

"I have big plans for you Leah. Big plans." Aro says as he presses the button. Pain shoots from her necklace and radiates through her body. It feels worse than Jane's pain, ten times worse. When she tries to scream she can't because some idiot has her mouth covered. Leah thrashes trying to get out of the set of hands, trying to get away from the pain but the other hand was holding her arms uncomfortably behind her back.

When the pain became too much for her to handle, everything goes dark and the last thought to cross her mind is Jake.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Jake wakes up and rolls over in the bed expecting to hit Leah's warm body but instead the bed is just cold because no one slept in it last night. Jake groans and looks around the room. There's no sign that Leah ever came in the room last night.

At first Jake is worried; she must have given him space last night. He was pretty upset with her when he left her in the gardens. But then Jake realizes she probably just slept in the gardens like she did the night before, she probably didn't want to fight with Jake anymore and didn't want to upset him anymore.

After Jake had left her yesterday, he had walked the halls of the castle trying to figure out a plan to escape. Jake tried to occupy his mind with thoughts that didn't involve Leah and Quil, or Leah and Embry. It was hard though, when he was walking an image would just come to him and then that was joined with the image of Jake straddling Leah and leaning close to her in a garden at sunset. And then he'd pull that image out of his head and in a few more minutes another image of either Quil or Embry would come in his head and then Jake would see Leah and the way she had looked at him last night, she wasn't afraid of him, not like Bella had been when she saw him lose control, she held his gaze and her eyes were impressed into his mind forever. In short, last night was pretty torturous for Jake. It was like part of him wanted him to think of Leah, that part of him wanted him to think of Leah in the most intimate ways, ways he hadn't even begun to think about Nessie.

That was the problem with imprinting on a super-fast-aging-half breed and being away from each other at months at a time. Nessie had grown up, she'd mature a lot, that was shown to Jake when she was in his room and she made out with him. Jake couldn't do it for long though, he still saw her as the child best friend he left. Imprints were supposed to be whatever their significant other needed, but right now it seemed that Nessie and Jake were on different levels. She was ready to be the teenager she had aged into in Jake's absence, but he still saw her as little Nessie the one that played house and make believe with Jake, not a hormone-crazed teenager.

Maybe that's why Jake still looked at Leah and he wanted her. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted anyone. And that drove Jake crazy, he knew he shouldn't want Leah, she deserved better than to be hurt by another imprint couple. Before they were here, Jake didn't notice the way Leah looked at him, he never would have thought that she could care for him, but she did and Jake knew her well enough to know that she did care for him.

Leah was wrong; Jake would have to choose between Nessie and one of his pack members, it would be her. And at this moment Jake didn't know what he was going to do. He knew what he was told about Imprints, they were always together forever; their bond was stronger than anything. But if that was true, why did he have such strong feelings toward Leah, feelings that were much stronger than his feelings for Nessie?

Jake lies down and decides to wait for Leah to come back to the room. She'd be back soon. Leah was a lot of things but she wasn't scared of Jake and his temper, she'd face it head on. Jake knows she'll be back soon and then he can apologize about acting like a jealous boyfriend. He didn't have that right, that much he knew.

* * *

><p>Leah jerks around but she can't move anywhere. Her arms and legs are strapped into thick, extremely thick leather bands. She tries to jerk her body out of captivity but it doesn't work she's stuck, in a room with vampires surrounding her and one of them was holding a large needle.<p>

"Good to see you can still move and I haven't paralyzed you dearie." Aro smiles his insane smile to her.

"What do you want Aro?" Leah asks. "Let me go."

Aro smiles even bigger. "We aren't done yet dearie."

Leah looks around the room that strangely resembles a mad scientist's lab from movies. Leah gets scared although she knows she shouldn't. There was no way out and she had no idea what they wanted with her. She looked around the room and saw Felix bound in a similar way to her, except he had about five more bindings: one more on each limb, and around his chest to prevent him from moving.

"Aro, I changed my mind, I don't want to do this. Why can't you use one of the new recruits?" Felix asks and Leah takes notice of his wavy voice. It couldn't be good if Felix was scared.

"Now, now Felix we talked about this. You are the strongest, and I know how loyal you are. You are very willing to do this." Aro says.

"But we don't know how it will mix. It could end badly." Felix says and seems to be pleading to his master.

"But it could end greatly and you'll be the most powerful creature in the world. Think of the favor I am doing for you." Aro says. "Now I must go eat, it will be a long night. I will see you both in a bit. Everyone else, let's go."

"Master…" The vampire named Chelsea says. She seems nervous that she'll upset him.

"What is it dear?" Aro strides close to her and pins her against the wall. Leah has a shiver that goes down her spine as she watches the interaction. You know that look people give each other when they've seen each other naked well that was the look they were sharing. Leah knew Aro had a wife, although she'd never met her, she was a prisoner in the tower although none of the Volturi saw it that way. She was locked away for her "safety" how convenient it was for Aro to have relationships with other women in the Guard. And Chelsea had a mate, which was why the behavior was so shocking, Chelsea and Afton always seemed like they were together. One thing Leah would never understand was vampire relationships.

"What if…" Chelsea struggles, "when we leave they escape?"

Aro chuckles. "They aren't going anywhere dear." He says and he runs his hand down her cheek. Chelsea shivers at the touch. "However we will make someone stay with them…" Aro looks around the room and everyone seems to be avoiding his eye contact. Aro smiles when he sees a young woman with long, red, wavy hair. "Elizabeth, I'm sure we can trust you with the situation."

Elizabeth looks down, scared to disobey orders. "Of course master." She says.

"Wonderful." Aro says and claps his hands. "Everyone out." He orders but grabs Chelsea's arm before she leaves.

"Yes… Master?" She asks.

Aro leans close to her. "Do you need to see Corin again?" Aro smiles knowingly.

Chelsea crumples a little. "I would love that Master." She smiles to him.

Aro runs his free hand through her hair. "Well after dinner we'll have to go see her in my room. You'll have to tell Afton you have an assignment."

Chelsea looks down with guilt in her eyes. "Of course, Master."

Aro's hand runs down Chelsea's body and Leah shivers again. "I know how long it has been since you've seen her. It's been far too long dear." Aro leans closer to Chelsea, inches from her face. "I know how your body craves it." He whispers and Leah shivers again. She almost throws up in disgust.

"Yes Master. I need to see her." Chelsea says.

"Soon, dear." Aro whispers. "Soon." And Leah swears she sees him nip Chelsea's ear and Leah shivers in disgust again.

When they leave, the room goes silent. "How repulsive." Leah blurts without being able to control it.

"More like sad," Felix grunts and Leah looks over to see him struggling.

"What do you mean?" Leah asks.

"He means that Aro uses Chelsea's addiction to Corin to have her sleep with him willingly. She'll do anything for Corin's addictive happiness." The familiar red-head speaks. Leah shivers and tries to push it away from her thoughts.

"Hi Elizabeth." Felix grunts.

"You know it won't do you any good to try to break free." Elizabeth says to Felix. "And sadly I have orders to not allow it." She then focuses on Felix and his struggling stops.

Leah looks over to her and moves trying to break free. "What did you do to him?"

"His mind is preoccupied with other thoughts right now. He's not even thinking about the fact that he is bound into a chair." Elizabeth says.

"What's he thinking about?" Leah asks.

"That's not part of my gift." Elizabeth says. "I can choose what to block from his mind. Not what occupies his thoughts."

"Do you know what they are going to do to me?" Leah asks her.

"It's not what they are doing to you that should scare you. It's what they are doing to him that's the real threat." Elizabeth says.

"What is Aro's plan?" Leah asks.

"He's using your blood to make a hybrid." Elizabeth says. "Felix is the tester to see how werewolf-"

"Shifter." I correct. "Sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine. We are shifters not werewolves. We do not change based on the moon."

"Sorry," Elizabeth says sincerely, "Felix is the tester to see how shifter blood mixes with our venom."

"Isn't your venom deathly to shifters?" Leah asks although she already knew the answer. There had been stories back home about the effects of venom on a shifter, stories without happy endings.

Elizabeth nods.

Felix starts struggling. "I know what you are blocking from me Elizabeth!" Felix shouts and turns to look at me. "Aro believes that since our venom usually helps us survive that it won't kill me. But let's be real… the odds aren't in my favor." Felix says and Leah instantly feels bad for him.

"What if it doesn't kill you? Then what?" Leah asks.

"He'll keep changing people, probably himself; he would hate to not have the power." Felix says. "He'll create a group of hybrids, hybrids that can kill both vampires and werewolves and shifters. They will be unstoppable." Felix says solemnly.

"You don't have high hopes?" Leah asks him.

"I've seen what our venom does to shifters. I do not wish to experience it." Felix says.

Leah nods. As much as she wished she could ask Elizabeth to let them go she knew it wouldn't do any good. Aro wouldn't give up and he'd find her and just lock her back up. Felix would be killed or tortured for disloyalty along with Elizabeth, however Aro would probably find it more pleasurable to have Elizabeth watch as Darius dies because of her actions and then she'd die.

Leah looks to Elizabeth and notices her eyes aren't a bright red anymore. They aren't black either. Is that… amber she sees mixed in the dark red, almost brown color?

"Did you talk to Alice when she was here?" Leah asks.

Elizabeth looks confused but Felix is the one who responds. "You just found out Aro plans on creating an unstoppable creature starting with you and me and you are worried about whether your friend talked to Elizabeth?"

"There's nothing we can do… unless you have an idea?" Leah says and when Felix shakes his head she turns her attention back to Elizabeth. "Your eyes have amber in them."

Elizabeth nods. "I didn't know there was a way to survive without killing…" She looks down as if she was ashamed. "I talked to Alice and she explained it all to us, Darius and I, I mean. We went hunting with them before they left. It wasn't the best taste, but it's got to be better than killing right?" Elizabeth smiles.

"I just thought all vampires wanted to kill." Leah says.

Elizabeth smiles, "I thought we were supposed to. I thought that was our only option. I don't want to kill. Darius and I never wanted this life…" She says sadly.

Suddenly Leah feels guilty for being part of the reason she was trapped here. Maybe all vampires weren't terrible; maybe they weren't all like Aro and Bella. Maybe, some of them were like Alice and Elizabeth, kind and caring. She still hated most of their kind, but some of them, weren't entirely repulsive.

Felix struggles again trying to get out.

"Felix…" Elizabeth says sadly as her eyes meet his and he stops struggling again.

Then the door opens and Aro enters with really bright red eyes. He smiles to Leah and then looks to Felix. "Beautifully done Elizabeth, as usual." He smiles to Elizabeth and it holds lust in it for her. Leah shivers again and catches Chelsea, smiling and pleasant as if this was heaven on earth.

"Now, dearie, it is time to begin. We have waited much too long." Aro says.

"Master…" Elizabeth speaks. "I fear I will lose focus during the process and Felix will fight."

"Of course dear. I don't expect you to hold him forever, how draining that would be for you. No, that's why we have Chelsea." Aro smiles to Chelsea with a look that says he just did something evil to her. She smiles back and nods.

"Now, let's begin." Aro smiles evilly and insanely.

* * *

><p>Something is wrong, Jake can feel it in his gut.<p>

Jake paces his room after Leah hasn't returned all day. She wasn't in the gardens and she wasn't anywhere else he looked. He is worried now, Leah would have been back now, but Jake has no idea where she would have gone. She wouldn't have left him, not that he would blame her, but that wasn't Leah.

Jake paces more and more. She must have been taken somewhere in a room, or on a mission. One person would know where she was. Felix.

Jake is going to find him and do whatever he needed to, to find out where Leah was and Felix was going to tell him.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Jake jumps to alert when he hears the door open, followed by a thud and then the door slamming. He must have been dozing, he had tried so hard to stay awake to wait for Leah, he had searched the whole castle but there was no sign of her. He turns to the door and sees a shadow curled up in a ball close to the door. His heart stops because his first thought is that it's Leah and she's dead.

Jake runs to her and places his hand on her back. Leah flinches at first but then turns and looks up at Jake.

"Jake…" Leah sighs and even in the dark he sees how exhausted she is. Her voice is slightly hoarse as well and that worries him.

"What did they do to you?" Jake asks with his teeth clenched.

Leah pulls herself against his chest and his arms wrap around her securely, making her feel safe for the first time since she can remember. She'd lost track of time in that room. Had it been a couple of days? It felt like she spent a year in that room with the needles, the screaming, the cold, and the pain. "I-it was horrible."

"What did they do to you Leah?" Jake asks again and his teeth are still clenched and Leah can feel how stiff he is, he is trying to control his anger.

Leah looks up to him. "It's a really long story." Leah says with exhaustion, and when the moon from the window reflects onto her face he knows she hasn't slept since the last time he saw her in the garden.

Was it urgent that Jake knew immediately what they had done to her? Was it worth her becoming more exhausted? He could see how much her face looked like it had aged since he had last saw her and as much as he wanted, no needed, to know what happened to her, he knew she needed sleep before she collapsed from exhaustion.

Jake lets go of Leah and stands up. Leah grasps for him and groans when the warm contact is broken. Jake bends down and scoops her into his arms. Leah's arms arm around his neck and she leans her cheek against his chest, she takes in his smell. He had been in the forest, but how? The guards guarded all of the exits, how had he been able to get out for a run.

"Jake…" Leah whispers.

"Shh…" Jake tells her as he carries her to the bed where he lays her down and his hands slide from underneath her. Jake is about to walk away and Leah grabs a hold of his wrist. Her grip is desperate and that makes Jake's stomach lurch. She's never been weak, whatever they did to her was awful. Jake was going to find out but first he needed to make sure she was okay.

"Don't leave Jake." Leah says simply.

Jake nods and then pulls back the covers and lies beside Leah. Jake sees that Leah's back has goosebumps and she shivers, so Jake thinks that she is cold. He moves close to her and wraps his arms around her and pulls her close against him. "I'm not going anywhere Leah." Jake whispers close to her ear and Leah can feel his warm breath leaving goose bumps down her neck. "They are never going to touch you again Leah. I promise." He says.

With Jake's promise and Jake's warmth wrapped around her she closes her eyes and sleeps a dreamless sleep.

Jake wakes long before Leah but he doesn't dare to move in fear of disturbing her peaceful sleep. Instead he just holds her in his arms and tries to imagine that they are somewhere else, somewhere tropical maybe, a little cottage by a warm beach, just Jake and Leah and no one else in the world.

Leah wakes and turns to face Jake. His warm eyes burn into hers with so much worry that she almost looks away. She must have terrified him last night.

"How are you feeling?" Jake asks.

"Better." Leah nods. "I was really exhausted last night. How long have I been… gone?"

"A few days. I was beginning to think you really had escaped." Jake tries to smile but it doesn't reach his eyes.

Leah nods. "I didn't escape. You know I wouldn't leave you." Leah says sincerely and he does know that. "I think Alec had the pleasure of escorting me back last night, I don't remember much after getting dropped into the room. I didn't say anything last night, did I?"

She was worried she might have spilled her feelings for him. She just remembers leaving that room an emotional wreck and she never knew what she would say in such an emotional state.

"No, you just slept." Jake says. "Can you tell me what happened Leah?"

Leah nods. "Y-yeah. I- I can do that." She stammers and then she takes a deep breath. "After you left me, in the garden, Aro came up to pay me a visit. Except he had someone with him, someone I never saw although his hand felt like Felix's." Leah watches as Jake tenses up at the mention of Felix's hands on Leah. She leans over to him and takes his hand. She takes another deep breath willing herself to be strong. "The pair of hands held me in place and covered my mouth so I couldn't scream. Then Aro pressed the button that controlled the necklace they gave me, the one that radiates pain. He held it so long that I passed out. When I woke up, I was in this room I've never seen. It looked like it was out of a sci-fi movie with an evil scientist. Aro was there with other Guard members and then there was Felix…" Leah looks down in sadness, remembering how much he struggled and how much he screamed. Jake reads her sadness wrong and begins thinking that Felix touched her, and his anger was boiling. "He was strapped down to a medical bed, like I was, but he had far more straps than I did. The straps started off as leather, but then they turned into this weird steel that gripped your limbs and squeezed as if it was way too tight and was trying to suck the life out of you. That happened later though…

"Everyone left the room except for Elizabeth for dinner. Do you remember her Jake? She was our first mission." Jake nods and Leah continues. "Well Alice had talked to her about alternative ways of life… and she's decided to do that. She told me about Aro's plan for me while he was gone. He always said he had big plans for me. Sick bastard." Leah says angrily and realizes she is squeezing Jake's hand. "Well, Aro has this power-hungry quality. He's always wanted to be unstoppable. He planned to take my blood and inject it into a vampire to try to create a hybrid with venom and the blood of a werewolf. At first Felix was happy to be the experiment subject, but then he realized how crazy the plans were. Venom is deathly to shifters, there's no telling what it would do when the vampire's blood was that of a shifter's." Leah looked down as images of the time in the room flashed in her head. She didn't know if she could go on, this was the easy stuff; it was easy to act like it didn't affect her right now. She knew when she got to describing the worst part of it all it would harder. She looked to Jake still holding her hand and his anticipating eyes. "Aro wouldn't let him back out, he told him of the great power Felix would have and how Felix should be thankful for the opportunity. When he returned from dinner he was smug and then it all began.

"Aro injected me with a needle, he wasn't gentle but didn't hurt that badly. I just squirmed trying to make it so he couldn't have my blood, but he got in anyways. Then it was Felix's turn to squirm and move. He tried to break the leather straps and he almost did, that's when Aro decided stronger material needed to be used and he used steel cuffs. Aro jammed the needle against Felix's arm but the needle just broke and Felix growled a warning growl. 'You'll need a better method,' Jane skipped forward as she said. 'I think I know what will work.' She smiled a villainous smile."

Leah looks down the length of her arm and there's a cut that runs from her elbow down. How could Jake have missed that? But it was already healing, it was almost gone. Leah's fingers trace the thin line all the way down to where it stops at her wrist. "They sliced my arm because the blood would come out faster this way than through a needle. I screamed so loud, I swore I shattered everyone's ear drums including mine but they were all fine, and Jane's plan was going well. The blood leaked from my arm, but that wasn't even the scary part. The scary part was when I screamed I looked to Aro, and he seemed to enjoy seeing me and pain." Leah shivers as she sees Aro's face stand out in her mind. "It's horrible. But then since Felix's arm wouldn't take the needle. Aro explained how the blade he was about to use was Tungsten and how it had been welded by fire, but it was a special knife because, when it was heated it would carry a flame. Felix jerked around like crazy but Jane wrapped leather through his mouth so he could bite on that and his screams were muffled. Aro heated the knife over the flame and then ordered for it to be immediately put out. Then he walked over to Felix and placed the blade against his chest, where his heart would be. Felix jumped around so much, if he was human he would have shattered all of his bones. 'The flame is not very strong but it is strong enough to weaken a vampire's diamond-like skin making it able to cut into. Are you watching Leah?' He had said as he placed the slightly burning flame to his most loyal follower's chest. Felix groaned and jumped around and jerked trying to get him to move the knife. Meanwhile Jane ordered that they would probably need more of my blood."

Leah looked down to her leg and pulled her shorts up higher revealing another long gash down the inside of her thigh. It was healing slower than the other one; it was deeper and wider than the other as well. "That one hurt like hell." Leah says and tries to smile but fails. My screams were met with Felix's and somehow the leather was gone from his mouth and he was screaming as Aro poured my blood into an opening he cut with the knife. Felix moved around furiously. 'I hate you!' He had shouted repeatedly as he thrashed around and cursed. Aro had lifted the blade but Felix began to act like he was on fire, but not on the outside on the inside. 'The venom is fighting the blood.' Elizabeth had sad solemnly. 'Aro… maybe we should stop.' She tried pleading with him but he wouldn't hear of it. 'No!' He had shouted. 'We've come this far… Alec… more blood, the venom appears to be winning.' Alec carried over a bucket of the blood he had collected from me and they poured it into Felix's gash again. Felix screamed again. 'Fuck!' He shouted and he cringed and twisted and struggled some more. I had lost a lot of blood; I could feel myself become very weak. 'Aro you'll kill her. Take a break, let's bandage her up and we can wait until her blood replenishes.' Elizabeth pleaded. Aro slapped her and she hit her head against the wall and whimpered. 'Does anyone else have any opinions about what I should do?' Aro asked angrily and everyone looked away.

"Aro walked over to me and grabbed my chin. 'You've still got some blood in you dearie. And shifters heal fast; you'll start reproducing blood faster than we can take it.' I just shook my head trying to make it stop. The cutting hurt so much, but I knew it had nothing compared to the internal battle Felix's body was having. 'I have a wonderful idea.' Aro whispered and then he grabbed my throat with his freezing hands, cutting off my airway. I jerked and tried to move around but Aro ordered for others to grip my arms hard. 'We'll get your adrenaline up, that way it can fight the venom.' Aro whispered. I was about to black out when he released me and I brought in a painful gasp. Aro just smiled as he placed his hand to my throat, I flinched away thinking he was doing it again. 'It's working.' Aro whispered. 'Alec!' Then Alec recut the wound on my thigh even though it was already beginning to heal. It felt like he was peeling off a scab and then cutting deeper than the other one. I screamed again, and after they took my blood, they poured it into Felix and Felix moved around more furiously, as if the battle was stronger than ever. We all watched and anxiously anticipated when it would stop, the screaming and the thudding. I'm not sure if you've ever witnessed someone being tortured Jake. But it's a horrible, horrible feeling. All you want to do is help, or make it stop because that's the humane thing to do, that's the thing to do if you have morals. But I couldn't help, and I couldn't make it stop. Felix was over there being tortured over and over again and I just had to watch him." Leah looks down.

"I know you hate him Jake, but I don't hate him. And he's always kind of taken care of me, or at least in his own weird way tried to help me. I couldn't do anything, and it was horrible." Jake squeezes her hand comfortingly and Leah takes another deep breath. "After that continued on for what seemed like forever, the screams stopped and the thrashing stopped and everything grew silent. Felix's eyes had closed through the torture. My breathing was heavy after Aro had just choked me again. We all looked over to him and Felix was breathing deeply. Aro walked over to him and called his name. Felix didn't respond, I thought maybe he was just slowly dying. Aro turned to me, 'Call his name Leah.' I shook my head, I wouldn't do it. I wasn't going to do anything he told me to do. He rushed at me and grabbed my arm pressing it until one of the bones snapped. At the sound of the bone snapping I yelped and shouted his name. Felix's eyes opened but they weren't blood red anymore. They were a vibrant purple; I jumped back in surprise. 'It has begun.' Aro declared proudly. Felix was still breathing heavily but his eyes never left mine. That's when I realized his eyes weren't just purple they had specks of red and brown, brown like your eyes floating around the purple. It was so strange. I could feel myself growing weaker from the loss of blood. 'You are probably thirsty Felix.' Aro said as he walked over and jammed a needle into my arm again however this one was connected to a tube that leads to cup. When the cup was filled he pulled the needle out and ordered Felix to open his mouth to drink. And he did, and he downed three cups of my blood. Aro taunted saying how much he has always said I smelled delicious to him. But Felix was out of it, and then he passed out, I don't know if it was from exhaustion or the transformation, but he was out. And then Aro decided I needed to leave and ordered Alec to take me back to my room after all of the blood had stopped streaming down my leg. That's when I got here and you helped me to bed." Leah said sadly and looked to Jake. "I don't know what will become of Felix, I don't know anything about shifter/vampire hybrids."

"Me either." Jake said as he pulls her against his chest and holds her. "He's not going to stop with Felix is he?" Leah just shakes her head. "It will just keep getting worse won't it?" Jake whispers as he rubs his hands through her hair. Leah nods. "I'm never going to let them touch you again." Jake whispers, assuring more himself than her probably.

He was the reason she was here. He was the reason she was alone in the garden because he never could tell her his feelings for her and instead he acted on jealousy and his wolf came out in all of its dominance. He was the reason she was vulnerable and Aro found her. He was the reason she was down there for a few days and the reason she wasn't saved. He was supposed to save her and protect her, but he didn't do that. Leah deserved better.

"Jake, you are strong, but you can't go against an army." Leah says. "I wouldn't want you to. I just wish we could stop it. This new species could wipe out all of us: shifters, humans and even vampires. Just because I'm here… that doesn't mean Aro won't go after the pack. I had this nightmare last night about Seth. Aro was slicing him up and using his blood and I had to watch it as they made Seth bleed to death. They didn't care about keeping him alive like they needed me alive, because they still had me and my blood. I couldn't do anything, and his eyes…" Leah shivers and Jake wraps his arms around her again. "His eyes were so disappointed." Leah gulps.

"We are going to stop this." Jake promises. "We can do anything, you and me. We can do this."

Leah shakes her head. "We'll both die; maybe even just you because Aro needs my blood."

"I don't care. We have to fight. We have to do something. I can't just stand back and let them hurt you. That's no better for me than you watching Felix get turned. It's probably actually worse because I care about you Leah." Jake says and his eyes are on fire and this time it isn't about something stupid Leah told him to reassure herself that Jake was in there. His eyes were on fire because he cared about her. And Leah shouldn't be happy about that probably, but she was.

Leah placed her hand over his mouth trying to quiet him, there's no telling what people were listening to in this castle. He'd be endangering himself if he kept talking like that. "We'll figure something out. But Jake…" Leah looks down because she isn't able to look into those flaming eyes. "I can't lose you. You must know that by now." Leah swallows the lump that was forming in her throat; it always happened when she got really emotional, Jake and the thought of losing Jake always made her emotional.

"I can't lose you either Leah. You haven't figured that out by now Clearwater?" Jake says and Leah smiles at the use of her last name just like old times.

"I just figured you were keeping me around to be surrounded by optimism and smiles, Black." Leah smiles and Jake smiles back.

However his smile doesn't last long. "Should we be doing this? Smiling when we are pretty much doomed here?"

"Why not be happy? You never know how many smiles we have left." Leah says and laughs a little but Jake is serious and his eyes are still full of intense fire as he looks at her.

"That's not something to joke about." Jake says seriously. Leah leans against him and then she realizes how close they've been this entire time. And it's like everything hits her at once. It's hard for her to breathe when she's this close to him sometimes, and right now, it's hard, extremely hard.

"I know," Leah says but she can't let something go because it might not ever come up again and although Leah is breathless in Jake's warm arms, she has more courage than she has in months and she needs to know. "Why can't you lose me Jake?"

A/N: Hi, hi! Are you guys still reading? **Long** update this time! Hope you guys enjoyed it, hope it didn't creep you out too much. I've been working on this for a couple of days. I'm at the beach right now so I'm not sure when the next update will be. Hopefully soon. I plan to work on this story some more tonight before I crash, I'm really excited about this story right now. But we'll see how far I get. I hope you guys enjoyed. Review maybe? Let me know you're still with me. It's okay though if you don't want to, I appreciate you reading it. Hope all is well with every single one of you. Love, Courtney.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Jake looks into her eyes after her question leaves her lips. What could he say to her? He didn't know if he was ready for her to know how he felt. But wasn't the whole reason they were in this mess because he didn't tell her his feelings? "Why are you so affected by Felix?" He blurted out before thinking about it.

Leah flinches at his question. She doesn't understand why Felix is so important to Jake. She doesn't like that he just decided to avoid her question. She needs to know why he couldn't lose her. There have been so many unsaid words between she and Jake, she was tired of it. Maybe it is because she still feels weak from last night, but she is exhausted of keeping everything a secret. Leah looks down and sighs. "There was something in his eyes. Every time they looked at me, like somehow he didn't belong here, or didn't want to do the things he was doing." Leah says softly.

"But he kept doing them and it didn't look like he regretted it." Jake says.

Leah shrugs. "It's an instinct. You've always told me to follow them, both you and Sam have. I had an instinct about him, that he was different than he was leading on. I had an instinct that he would help me, help us survive. You always follow your instincts, I just did the same." Leah says.

"But he's a killer, and a manipulator." Jake says.

"But he… I don't know he's different than any of them, Jake." Leah stands up and begins pacing the room, trying to explain the feeling she had gotten when she looked into Felix's eyes, really looked at them. She had seen sadness and remorse along with his cold, killer instincts. She had seen that he cared about her, and even though he had his own creepy ways, he hadn't killed her or hurt her.

Jake stands up and grips her wrists and pulls her close. "You love him then?" Jake asks over the lump in his throat.

"What?" Leah asks him unsure if she heard him correctly. "Love him?"

"Yes!" Jake shouts. "Do you love him Leah?"

Leah shakes her head. "No, of course I don't love him Jake."

"It sure as hell sounds like you do." Jake tells her. "He's different, Jake. It's an instinct, Jake." Jake says in a whiny, mocking tone. "It's obvious you love him." Leah shakes her head, she didn't love Felix. How could Jake even see that? Couldn't he see the way she looked at him? "That kiss you guys had it wasn't just a peck on the lips, there was touching and groping and tongue." Jake shivers in disgust. "How could I have been so stupid?" He says more to himself than to her.

"No!" Leah shouts to him. "I love you, you idiot!" She feels a tear fall from her eye and dance down her cheek. She pushes out of his arms and turns away from him. She didn't want him to see her crying, she didn't want him to see her with more weakness than she showed already. She didn't want him to see how weak he made her.

"What?" Jake whispers and she can hear him rushing toward her. She hides her face while she wipes away the runaway tear. Jake grabs her hands and looks into her eyes. "But I thought…"

"You thought I loved Felix?" Leah says. "I could never love him." She says, "Not when I'm so absorbed with you." She says softly not meaning for him to hear, but he does.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jake asks, inches from her.

Leah sighs. "Why didn't I tell you I liked you? Well… first there was Bella, and then there was Nessie. There wasn't any good time to say, 'Hey Jake I know you like that leech-lover or that half-breed, but I think it would be really awesome if you forgot about them and kissed me.' Come on Jake? How could I have told you? You were so absorbed in them. It wouldn't have mattered what I said."

"It would have mattered, Leah." Jake says. "It still matters."

Leah bites her bottom lip nervously and runs her fingers over the wolf charm on her necklace. She wants to kiss him, but that could have some serious consequences. Like the fact that after the kiss, everything would be awkward, Jake would push her away and move closer to Nessie. Could Leah handle that? Leah realizes her eyes go to scan over Jake's smooth lips and then she forces them to meet his fiery eyes. Maybe she couldn't handle losing Jake after kissing him, but she definitely couldn't handle not kissing those lips, ever.

When was Leah going to stop being a coward? She was a coward last night and the night before. Could she have fought harder? Could she have been stronger and not crumbled when she returned to her room? She should have been stronger, she knows that. Sometimes it's hard even for her to remain strong. She knew it was expected of her not to fall apart, and she promised herself right then and there, looking into Jake's sad but fiery eyes that she wouldn't crumble anymore, she'd be strong. She'd be brave.

Leah doesn't like the thought of never kissing those lips. And when was there ever going to be a time like this?

Leah moves closer to him and loops one arm around his neck as she is inches from him. "I'm going to kiss you Jake." She whispers moving so her lips are inches from his. "If you don't want me to, stop me Jake." She whispers as her hand rests gently on his neck. Is that his pulse quickening? Is she just imagining that sensation or is it real? "One," Leah whispers and moves closer, "Two," a little bit closer, "Three." She whispers as her lips collide with his and suddenly everything feels warm and perfect. His soft lips move over hers almost instinctively, as if they were supposed to be kissing right now. Leah's other arm wraps around his neck.

His arms wrap around her waist and pull her completely against his body. He needs her warmth pressed against his, every inch of her intoxicating to him; he needs her closer, closer. It is selfish, he needs her, he knows he shouldn't, he hates that he does. Leah deserves better, better than him. But when she was so close… he couldn't force himself to make her not kiss him. He'd always wanted her lips on his hadn't he? All this time and Leah was the one to step up to the plate when he was too much of a coward to approach her for all these years. Jake's hands grip the material of her shirt in a fist as her brushes over his lips through the kiss. Jake takes this as an opportunity to deepen the kiss even more with some tongue. He fought for dominance over her with the kiss, and she smiles at the struggle but then she gives in with a moan.

Then the fog in Jake's mind from the lust clears. And he sees Nessie walking toward him in a wedding dress; the one Alice has seen her in, the one she showed him when she was last here. He sees Leah crying as she watches from the woods, Nessie walking toward Jake with a huge smile on her face, oblivious to Leah's hurt, oblivious to Jake's other wants besides her.

Jake grips Leah's arms and forces her to pull away from him. When Leah realizes this, the hurt is evident in her eyes.

He had kissed her back right? She hadn't imagined his tongue and his hands. Why is he suddenly so cold now?

The look on her face causes Jake's stomach to twist and knot. He hates seeing Leah in pain, and this pain it is worse than the one from last night, the one she had just talked about, and Jake had caused this pain. He would do anything to take it away from her.

"Leah…" Jake breathes heavily, breathless still from the wonderful kiss they shared, the one that shouldn't have happened.

"Don't!" Leah cuts off. He says her name again but she shakes her head. "You… You kissed me back. Why would you do that and then pull away so coldly and quickly?" Leah says and she tries to hide the hurt in her voice. _Brave._ She repeats over and over in her head. _Strong._

Jake shakes his head. "I shouldn't have kissed you back Leah."

"I hate her," Leah says and she knows she doesn't really need to clarify.

"I know…" Jake says and looks down.

"No, I hate them. I hate Bella. I hate how she mesmerized you so much. I hate how she sunk her claws into you and never really released her grip, even when she was marrying Edward and becoming your mortal enemy. I hate that she had Nessie. I hate Nessie. I hate how perfect she is and how everyone can so easily see her beauty and love her. I hate… I hate how she gets to have you for the rest of your life." Leah says, surprised her voice hasn't shook. "I hate them, Jake."

"Leah…" Jake says softly.

Leah shakes her head. "And I hate you. I hate how you were so loyal to Bella, how you'll always be so loyal to her. I hate how you are so attached to Nessie, and I hate that I can't really hate you for that because you have no control over it. I hate that you make me so… crazy… so crazy that I would kiss Felix just because, I needed to show you that I'm not upset about you and Nessie being all lovey-dovey but I am upset. I hate that you make me upset. I hate that you kissed me back, because if you didn't then I could live forever telling myself that you didn't feel a shred of what I feel for you. I hate that you pulled away, I hate that so much. I hate them, I hate you and it's so exhausting hating everyone." Leah says and crosses her arms.

"I'm so sorry Leah." Jake says. "You deserve better, you deserve better than this, than me."

And then Leah realized why he pulled away. "Bullshit! Don't tell me what I deserve. I don't care what I deserve. I don't know why I have feelings for you, out of all people Jake. I can't control them, but you sure as hell can't decide what I deserve." Leah moves inches from him. "You kissed me back. Why did you kiss me back Jake?"

Leah had laid everything on the table, she was even more brave than he had given her credit for. Jake watches her as he nervously decides the best path to go on. Should he tell her his feelings? Or should he brush them off coldly like he always had? He notices her biting her bottom lip, anxiously awaiting his answer. Had that always been so damn cute when she did that? She shouldn't be allowed to do that. It isn't fair. Her eyes never left his, there was her brilliant bravery. No wonder so many people in love write song, books and movies about this kind of stuff. It's amazing how many details you can notice about someone you love; details that become so much more amazing with every new discovery of something else cute, adorable or sexy. It is also amazing, Jake notices, how much those details become even more noticeable when you allow yourself to acknowledge that you love that person.

The details Jake noticed for Leah is becoming longer and longer. Like the way her eyes shine when she gives you a genuine smile. Or the way her laugh was so beautiful birds would stop to listen to it before they went on their way singing. The way Leah always was ready for a competition and how the forest seemed to belong with her, as if she and the forest coexisted. The way Leah cared about people, and how she would die trying to protect those people. And at this moment, the way she patiently awaited his answer with such beautiful, innocent eyes, eyes that Jake had always been drawn to, eyes that spoke to him, eyes that promised that the world was full of beautiful things as long as Leah was still alive, and as long as her eyes could still shine.

And he was aware of how truly corny and cliché his thoughts were. He winced at the sound of them, but he knew they were true, every thought was true, corny or not. That's when he sighs, giving up the internal battle, "Because Leah, I love you." Jake says.

A/N: Sorry for the late update. I suck, I know. What do you think? You guys are amazing as usual! Keep up the reading, favorites and reviews!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Leah shakes her head. "You don't have to say that just because I said it." Leah says. "I'm just so tired of trying to put it in the back of my mind; I'm so exhausted from using all of my energy trying to hide my feelings for you. My energy needs to be focused on getting out of this castle and getting back to La Push." Leah says.

Jake leans closer to Leah. His father had written him a very short letter and had given it to Nessie and the words of his letter, words he didn't understand at the time but now the meaning of the words is very clear, repeats in his head. _Everyone has the freedom of choice, Jake. Even when they don't think they do, even in circumstances they don't think they do. Everyone has the freedom to make their own destinies. Take care, Dad. _Jake has the freedom to choose Leah over Nessie, which if he was ever forced he had always known who he would choose. But now, he didn't have to be lovers with Nessie. They could love each other the way best friends did. Kissing Nessie never felt right. Now, he knew what kissing Leah was like and he wasn't willing to give that up anymore. Sometimes, it's better to not know what something feels like because then you don't know what you are missing out on, you don't know how good something is. Now Jake knows how good Leah is, how good kissing Leah is, and how good being close to Leah is. She had been brave telling him her feelings for him. He admired her bravery, and hated himself even more for not telling her first, for being the brave one. But Leah is better than he is, he should know that by now. Of course she would be the brave one when Jake could not.

Jake looks into her eyes, he shouldn't be thinking of her and the way her lips felt on his, soft yet eager, gentle and passionate. He shouldn't be thinking of these things, especially since he needs to get her out of this hell. Leah didn't belong here, no matter how much she assured him she was fine, he saw sadness in her eyes, sadness that had increased since she had returned from the torture with Aro. Jake's focus should be on killing that monster, stabbing him a thousand times with the blade that burned, ripping him to shreds and then burning him to ash. His thoughts should be on getting Leah out of here, but he can't seem to shake the thoughts of her, kissing her, holding her, and doing some very vulgar things to her.

He had told her his feelings for her, but it wasn't enough. She didn't have faith in those words but did he blame her? He had tried to prove his love for his imprint every chance he had, Nessie had kissed him in front of her, and Jake had kissed Nessie back. Jake was a coward, and an imposter to everyone, including himself. Not anymore. He would tell Leah his feelings, make her believe. Then, he'd get her as far away from here as possible. Even though he had no idea how he would accomplish that second task, he had to find a way.

She looks back into his eyes trying to read what he is thinking. He had been silent for a few moments, in deep thought, she isn't sure why though, she is well aware that he loved someone else. He is probably thinking of how to best go about this so he doesn't shatter her heart. She must appear so weak to him, so fragile. She probably should have regretted telling him, but she didn't, now, she feels so relieved as if she doesn't have a huge weight on her anymore. What she hates though, almost enough for her to regret it is that it has him worried about breaking her heart, and it has him in distress about how to deal with the news she just gave him.

Leah moves uncomfortably away from him, it is still painful to be so close to him, knowing she couldn't have him or taste his lips again. At least she had savored the kiss; she replayed it over and over in her head trying to bring to surface every detail, every taste.

Jake grabs her arm, holding her in place, shaking away his thoughts; he is sending her the wrong message. He didn't want to go backward, only forward. Leah jumps at the sudden contact but she doesn't pull away from his hands.

Jake used to believe he didn't have the right to touch Leah, but now that she's declared her love for him, he allows himself the pleasure and moves his hands to her soft cheeks, cupping them gently. "Leah," he whispers as he inches close to her. Leah's heart beats fast, really fast, she knows Jake must be able to hear it and she is embarrassed by her heart's weakness to become so excited so easily. She feels herself hold her breath in anticipation. "Did you not hear me? I said, I love you." He is inches from her and she swears she's never been in such an intense moment. She clings to his words, even though they may be lies. She wishes for him to say more, so she can feel his warm breath on her lips.

Leah shakes her head. "Please, don't lie to me Jake." She whispers back to him.

Jake shakes his head, "I'm not lying. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

"We aren't talking sisterly love, Jake. I'm not talking about that kind of love at all." Leah says softly.

Jake chuckles and he pulls her face closer, his lips crashing on hers. It takes a moment for Leah to realize what is happening and then she begins kissing him back.

The kiss is so… perfect.

It starts off soft, and gentle then it quickly becomes demanding and passionate. Jake wants to make sure she understands that in no way does he think of her as a sister. Jake runs his tongue over her lip begging for entrance and she allows it. They begin their fight for dominance in her mouth; Jake allows his instincts to take control. He is her Alpha after all.

Leah is so absorbed in the kiss she doesn't realize that she's pushed back into him too much until she feels Jake move one arm around her waist and the other around her neck and pulls her with him as they fall. Leah instinctively grabs his shirt for support. Jake lands with a grunt but then his lips are back on Leah's lips, beginning where he left off, but it's too much for her. She breaks from the kiss and begins laughing and apologizing. She lays her hands on the side of Jake's head but she doesn't move more than inches away from him. Is it terrible to hope that he'll kiss her like that again?

"Don't apologize," Jake moans, breathless from the kiss and Leah takes notice of the rise and fall of his chest that she is laying on. Jake's hand around her neck pulls her closer and his lips press against hers again. Leah can't hold back the moan that escapes her lips at the warmth of his lips. Leah memorizes his taste, his smell, his warmth.

Leah smiles through the kiss and pulls away way too quickly for Jake's taste. He sighs.

"Maybe you should use your words…" Leah says, still breathless from all of the kissing. She tries to sit up, she shouldn't be this close to him; it's too easy to get caught up in Jake and his… Jake-ness. But when she tries to get up, Jake's arm on her waist grips tighter keeping her against him.

"Don't move," Jake seems to beg, "please." And Leah can't resist. When she doesn't move Jake smiles a little and the hand around her neck goes to move a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I thought… I thought that would show you I don't think of you as a sister. No part of me thinks of you as a sister." He says softly.

Leah nods. She definitely got that message. "I got that." She smiles.

How could he not tell her how he felt about her, how he's felt about her for a very long time? He needed to stop being a coward, he was going to tell her, and then… he was going to kiss her some more.

Leah looks to him expectantly. "You've always been beautiful Leah; it just seemed you were always out of reach. Growing up, every boy has a girl they'd do anything to have, you were that girl. You are still that girl for me. Back then, age was more than just a number and you were far out of my league so I took on the love from afar approach. Then you were with Sam and I was sure I'd never have a chance with you. Then you guys broke up, but I felt I had a duty to Bella. I know you don't understand but she was in a really bad place, and I was her friend, her best friend. I guess those were the times when love got really confusing because back then I would swear to myself that I loved Bella, but you were always in the back of my mind. But we never seemed to have the timing right. We still don't, I mean of all places to tell you I love you, it's in this hell hole. Who would have thought? Anyways, then there was Nessie and all the pressure to be something with her. And I couldn't hurt you the way Sam hurt you. I told myself it was best to keep you at a distance." He leans close to her and smiles, then he rolls over, turning her on her back gently but quickly and pinning her to the ground so he was on top. He places a kiss on her exposed collar bone and he sits back up to see Leah smiling sweetly. "It wasn't easy keeping you at a distance when you joined the pack. So I had to keep trying to prove to you how much Nessie is important to me. Which she is important to me. But…"

"But what?" Leah asks.

"But she doesn't make me feel the way you do. And I don't love her the way I love you." Jake assures her.

"But aren't you still supposed to be something with her? Has that changed?" Leah says.

Jake shakes his head. "But… my view of things has changed."

"How so?" Leah asks as he leans down close to Leah's neck. He takes in her smell; she still manages to smell like the forest. He loves the smell; it's almost as if he can't get enough.

"Free will." He whispers and places a kiss on her neck gently then pulls away. "I choose to love you, to be devoted to you, and to be nothing more to Nessie than a best friend. That is if you'll have me. You have your own choice in the matter."

Leah wraps her arms around his neck and pulls his face close to hers and she kisses him again. When she breaks away she whispers, "I don't really have a choice in the matter. Not after we kissed. I could never walk away."

Jake smiles and kisses her forehead. "I feel the same."

"One more question," Leah whispers, one of her fingers draws patterns on his back softly. "Tell me, how do I make you feel?" Leah smirks to him.

Jake smiles, nothing got by Leah. Jake leans in close, his lips gently on her lips, just enough to touch them. "Alive." He says, the movement on his lips dancing on hers. Leah leans up and presses their lips together, smiling through the kiss.

They kiss and kiss. Both completely absorbed in the other's lips, hands, bodies. So absorbed they didn't know anyone had joined them in the room, not until a familiar voice spoke.

"Well, look at you two." Leah and Jake pull away from each other and look at the unexpected visitor or visitors as it appears to be two people that have entered the room. "And to think, we thought you needed rescuing."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Leah pushes off of Jake when her eyes meet his. She could have sworn her heart had stopped at that moment. Had her worst fears come true? Had they taken him? She runs to him and wraps her arms around him. "Seth…" she whispers as she hugs him for a while. She hears him chuckle. Why was he chuckling at a time like this? He was a captive of monsters. She wouldn't be able to protect him.

"Glad to see you missed me Lee." Seth whispers. Leah pulls out of the hug and looks to Jake who is shaking Embry's hand.

"Sorry for the interruption, Jake. Never would have thought you guys would be… busy." Embry says as he winks to Leah and Leah is suddenly very embarrassed that she was caught on top of Jacob Black making out with him with Embry and her brother as witnesses. "And we all thought you guys were so miserable and just needed to be rescued. How silly of us Seth." Embry smiles.

"What are you doing here?" Leah asks. It is directed more at Seth than Embry but she didn't really need to explain that since she was glaring at Seth for an answer and the pack understood how protective she was of Seth.

"Like Embry said," Seth shrugs, "A rescue."

Leah pulls them into her room slamming the door. "Are you insane?"

Embry laughs, "Not quite. Although, Sam said the same thing when we told him we wanted to break into Volterra and free you guys."

"You can't just waltz in and take us with you. They will fight." Leah says solemnly.

Seth smiles, "I know Leah. We've got a plan. You really should have some faith in us. It's a pretty great plan if I say so myself. By dawn tomorrow, you two will be free." Then Seth looks to Jake seriously. "And you'll have some explaining to do to Nessie."

"Seth…" Jake says and walks toward him.

Seth shakes his head, "I really don't care if you and Leah are together. I'd rather not see you make out again. But you need to tell Nessie."

"Of course I will." Jake says.

Seth moves closer, trying his hardest to be threatening, Leah can't help but smile. "And if you hurt her Black, I'll rip you to shreds." Leah releases a giggle.

Jake smiles and wraps his arm around Seth's neck jokingly like he's done so many times before. "Alright, kiddo. If I hurt her, I give you permission to rip me to shreds." Jake laughs and then releases Seth. "So what's the plan?"

Seth looks to Embry, and Embry looks to Seth. "It will probably be best for both of you to not know." Embry says and Seth nods.

"Why would that be best?" Leah asks. She needs to know what the hell is going on.

"You work better on instincts. When you get to thinking and planning sometimes you overthink, especially you Leah. And you'll just worry about it." Embry says. Leah glares at Embry at the insult, even though it wasn't meant to be an insult.

There's a knock on the door and then it opens and closes quickly. Leah turns around as Seth whispers, "Nessie! You made it!" She smiles back at him happily and nods excitedly. Then she turns to Jake and she runs to him. They hug and Leah feels a bitter feeling building up in her stomach. If that half-breed kissed Jake, she wouldn't be able to hold it together.

"Hey Edward, glad to see you could make it too." Seth smiles to Edward, someone he seemed to worship ever since Edward came into his life. It was strange; it was almost like Edward was a father figure to Seth. Leah had tried to stop it in the beginning she didn't want her brother anywhere near the bloodsuckers but then she realized how much Seth needed that in his life and she gave up.

"Hi Leah." Edward says politely.

"Hi Edward." Leah says. "Would you be kind enough to let me know what the hell is going on and why my brother is here in Volterra?"

Edward smiles, he is probably already aware of her annoyance before she showed it. "We're getting you guys out of here. A plan we've been planning for months actually."

"But… Nessie and the others came without you, without your permission." Leah says.

"Actually, apparently they were hoping I'd try to disobey them and come here so that the Volturi wouldn't suspect anything. Not anything for a few months anyways. I couldn't know their plans, because Daddy knew Aro would immediately read my thoughts trying to gain knowledge." Nessie says stepping away from Jake. "When we got off the plane, everyone was waiting to reboard the plane. They filled me in on the way here."

"Who all is here? What's our numbers? Do we honestly stand a chance?" Jake asks and Leah was thinking the same thing. She's seen the way the Volturi operate; she knew how easy it was for them to kill. She didn't go through all of this to watch her brother get drained of his blood by a coven of vampires.

"The pack and our coven." Edward says.

"It's not enough." Leah says solemnly, images of Seth's body pale, drained of blood flashing before her eyes. Leah shakes her head. "There's about fifty of them now. Maybe a little less. We can't take them. We'll all die, and those who survive will wish they were dead."

"Leah," Seth says, "it's going to work. It has to."

"It's not going to!" Leah raises her voice. "You need to leave Seth, you should have never come."

"I'm not going anywhere." Seth says. "Not without you."

"We were hoping to get a few more recruits. Do you know anyone willing to overthrow the most powerful coven in the world?" Embry smiles.

"Like who?" Leah asks. Embry shrugs. Leah looks to Jake. "I might have a few people. Not enough to make it even."

"Good thing ten of them are on a mission. We can get most of them out of the way by the time they get back." Edward says. "Talk to who you can. Try to reason with them. Seth, Embry, you know what to do. Nessie and I have something to do. Meet at the throne room in an hour."

"You won't let me ask you not to do this?" Leah says.

"It's for your own good Lee." Seth says.

"Trust us Leah. We've been planning this for a while." Edward smiles slightly.

"If you get killed Seth…" Leah says.

Seth smiles and shakes his head. "Not going to happen. I've learned from the best."

"Jake, you can go with Seth and Embry or Leah. It's up to you." Edward says.

Leah looks to Jake, meeting his warm eyes. "I'm going with Leah." Jake declares and Leah smiles a little.

Edward nods. "Alright let's go."

Nessie hugs Jake wishing him the best and telling him she'd see him later. Seth and Embry follow Edward and Nessie out of the room quickly.

Leah looks to Jake after they've left. "You didn't have to come with me." Leah says as she begins sliding on a pair of jeans, a long sleeve top and a leather jacket. Jake takes her lead and begins changing into jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight. Especially when I know who is on the top of your list." Jake says as he pulls the shirt over his head.

Leah smiles, "You know me pretty well, huh?"

Jake nods and moves closer to her, wrapping his arms around her. He leans in for a kiss but Leah puts her finger on his lips. "Seth is right about one thing, you need to tell Nessie. And until she knows… no more kissing Black." Leah says and pulls his arms from around her. "Come on we've got some recruiting to do." She grips his wrist and pulls him towards the door leading him into the hallway.


	15. Chapter 15

As we enter the room, Leah squeezes Jake's hand tighter because she's not sure how she'll react to the horrific room. She's not sure why she thinks he'll be in here, but she just feels like he would. Jake squeezes her hand lightly in a comforting way. Leah smiles a little and then walks in. She sighs in relief when she sees him sitting on the table with his face in his hands.

"Felix," She says gently hoping not to startle him. For all she knows he might hate her, it was her blood after all that changed him. Without her, he'd still be all vampire and wouldn't be in so much pain right now. He looks around and his purple eyes meet mine. Leah gasps a little, there's so much emotion in those eyes and she can't even interpret all of them. Hurt, betrayal, pain, regret, hope, sadness and so many more.

"Leah," He gives Leah a small smile, it doesn't last very long. "Jake," he says and nods to him, Jake nods to him.

"How are you?" Leah asks moving closer to him, Jake stays by her side, his hand attached to hers as if he were to let her go, he'd lose her. Leah smiles at this thought because it feels good to be wanted. Then she focuses back on Felix. If her pack and the Cullens were going to stand a chance, she needed others, and Felix well he was the best and on the top of that list. Leah knows if she has Felix on their side their odds increase dramatically.

"I've been better," Felix says with a slight smile. "What about you? How's your legs?"

Jake tenses, he shouldn't care that Felix is talking about Leah's legs, his Leah's legs but somehow he can't control himself from caring. Jake knows it's stupid, Leah's assured him she has no feelings for Felix, but somehow Felix's comments still get under his skin. Jake shouldn't get so angry, especially after what Felix has been through, it's a good sign that he has not completely shut down from what he's been through, but Jake still can't just brush off a comment about Leah's legs coming from that leech.

Leah smiles slightly, "Fully functional. I'm very grateful to my impeccable healing skills. Without them, I'd be bed ridden for weeks I'm sure." Leah gives Jake a warning glance and he relaxes a little.

"What do you need Leah?" Felix asks with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Leah asks him.

"You wouldn't come down here by choice, ever. Unless, you needed something. What is it that you need?" Felix asks and he seems like he's aged years.

"You." Leah says. "I need you."

Jake tenses again. Couldn't she use a better word selection? That will definitely give him the wrong impression.

Felix smirks at this. "Interesting, Pup." He looks to Jake and Leah's joined hands. "It doesn't look like you need me." Leah tightens her grip on Jake to assure him she's not letting go.

"Not that way Felix. You know the deal with Jake." Leah says calmly and Felix nods. "We need your help."

Felix laughs. "I can't help you, Pup. Three against the Volturi, the odds are not in our favor and I would really like to not die or get tortured again."

"It's not just three." Jake speaks up. "The whole pack, the whole Cullen coven, they are all here."

"Oh, they finally gathered a rescue party for you two. How sweet." Felix says bitterly.

"Not just us." Jake says. "All pack members, and that now includes you Felix." Leah looks to Jake, she wasn't expecting him to talk, but she had to admit he had a way with words. If anyone could get Felix on their side it was Jake, even if he hated the idea of Felix being a part of the pack, he could convince someone of anything.

Felix shakes his head in disbelief. "You'd never allow me into your pack, Black."

"It's not my choice really. Leah's blood runs through you, her blood is your existence, her blood is the pack's blood, and therefore you have pack blood. And even I have to admit we would greatly need your assistance. You know the system better than anyone, and you have the most reason for revenge. He forced you to become something you didn't want, you begged for it to stop but he continued. You were his most loyal subject and he treated you like nothing but an experiment rat. I'd be furious, and I know you are. You just haven't done anything because when you are here, under his control you can't do anything. This is your chance to show him that he doesn't own you; he doesn't own any of you. I understand that you have both vampire venom and shifter blood. A shifter's loyalties are strong, we take care of our own," Jake says looking to Leah and then back to Felix, "whether you like it or not you are part of that now. We've got your back Felix, if you let us." Jake says. Leah squeezes his hand and smiles to Jake.

Felix looks down. "I didn't want to be this monster. I won't fit in anywhere now. Vampire will push me away because I am a shifter and shifters will push me away because I am a vampire."

Leah steps closer. "You are part of our pack. You have a group of people that will stand by you, defend you, love you, and risk their lives for yours. It's there for the taking Felix, all you have to do is reach for it and grab it."

"And what about my vampire wants?" Felix says. "That goes completely against all of your codes."

"The Cullens have a pretty high success rate with vegetarianism. If you'd like, I'm sure they'd help you. I know you didn't want to kill all of those innocent lives; you didn't want to be a vampire in the first place. There are ways you don't have to be a killer Felix. There are ways you can be happy." Leah tells him.

Felix looks down. "Okay, I'll help you. But we'll need more. And I know just who." Felix smiles to Leah.

"Elizabeth and Darius." Felix and Leah say in unison smiling.

"If we get one, the other one will come." Felix says.

"I don't think it will need that much convincing, she's already adopted the vegetarian lifestyle of the Cullens." Leah says. "We need to go. We'll have to meet them in fifteen minutes."

The three leave the room, Jake still holds on to Leah's hand as they race through the halls, frantically looking for Elizabeth and Darius, their last recruits before they have to face off with the monsters once and for all.


	16. Chapter 16

It wasn't hard convincing Elizabeth and she eagerly rushed to grab Darius to come with us. We went to the throne room and awaited everyone else.

It was empty, soon the room would fill with vampires for a meeting before dinner and then…hopefully everyone will be on their way out of this hellish place.

Aro entered the room with Edward and Alice walking by his side. "You really should have brought your daughter Edward; she was such lovely company last time she visited." Aro says. Marcus and Caius follow behind going straight to their thrones. Aro hasn't noticed the group of uninvited visitors in the room; he's too busy trying to be charming. I feel Jake tense and I look over and smile to him.

"She still had jet-lag from her last visit." Edward says calmly.

Aro looks around the room, his eyes resting on Leah. "What are you all doing here?"

"We came for the meeting." Leah says nonchalantly. "We are after all part of the Volturi are we not?" She says innocently.

"The meeting isn't for another ten minutes." Aro says.

"I didn't want to be late." Leah says. "I couldn't wait to hear new plans for the Guard." She smiles slightly.

"And what are you doing here Felix? I thought we agreed in your condition it would be best to stay… out of sight for a bit."

"I was eager to be with my family sir." Felix says.

Aro glares at Felix but doesn't say anything. "What brings you to Volterra Edward?"

"Sightseeing." Edward says calmly.

"Is that so?" Aro says curiously. "I have to admit I had hoped it was for other reasons, but you knew that didn't you?" Aro reaches his hand out, "Let us catch up shall we?"

At that question the room fills with vampires, all early for their meeting by a few minutes. "Hello everyone!" Aro greets. "We have some wonderful guests with us tonight! And two of our members have finally graced us with their presence. This is definitely a time to celebrate! Now, Edward where were we?"

Edward sighs and places his hand on Aro's. Alice slides back and out of nowhere, Rose is behind Caius's throne, and Alice has moved behind Marcus's throne.

Aro's eyes widen at the knowledge he has gained and pulls away from Edward. "It's an ambush!" He shouts. "Defend Volterra!"

And at that wolves come from the shadows and the rest of the Cullens reveal themselves. Felix growls at someone and Darius hisses at a vampire about to strike Elizabeth. Alice wraps her arms securely around Marcus's throat, and Rose does the same with Caius. Jasper throws someone into the marble pillar, the vampire cracking the pillar. Edward fights with Aro for a while and then a shrill is heard throughout the room and everyone's attention goes to the source, Nessie is pinned to the wall with a Guard member pressing on her throat, threatening to shatter it and rip it apart. Edward goes into full Daddy mode, forgetting Aro and running to Nessie's aid, apparently Bella has the same thought process, running to aid her daughter, forgetting completely about the one she was fighting. Unfortunately for everyone, Bella was preoccupying Jane, now Jane was free to torment someone.

"Leah!" Jake calls and Leah shakes out of her daze, acknowledging that Jake is already in his wolf form and she has completely forgotten she was a part of the fight and not just a witness.

Leah shifts, Felix is on his way towards Aro, but Jake beats him and Jake pins Aro to the ground. Leah runs to join Jake, Jake raises his paw to begin shredding Aro, and then Leah screams as pain hits her. She drops to the floor and cringes at the pain throughout her body. Screaming and sobbing. Jake looks to her, distracted from his task and Aro picks him up and throws him into the marble floor, earning a whimper from Jake.

"That's right Leah," Aro chimes, "You are still my little pet." Aro smiles wickedly. "There's no need to try to be a hero, dear." He says as the pain stops, the whole room has fallen silent and they are all looking at me. Leah notices she is back in her human form; the pain must have been too much in her wolf form she thinks. Someone lays a warm fabric on her shoulders and she slowly pulls the shirt over her, and looks into a shirtless Felix's purple eyes with gratitude for his kindness. She looks passed Aro at the squirming Jake who is finally starting to pull himself up. Some of his bones must have shattered. Leah clutches the necklace around her throat she never wanted but was forced to wear, the one that had caused her so much pain lately, had created so much weakness within her. "That's right you still have the necklace on. You are still weak." Aro smirks evilly.

"You are a sick bastard. And you deserve to rot in Hell for eternity and anyone who supports you deserves to rot beside you. I'm so tired of you trying to control me. I'm not your pet; I'm a Beta of a shifter pack. I'm stronger than you ever gave me credit for. I'd rather die than have you change your whole Guard into vampire/shifter hybrids." The vampires gasp at this in disgust of the idea. Leah reaches and pulls the shirt off and tosses it to Felix and then without warning Aro, she lunges at him and begins digging her nails into his skin, ripping him to shreds over, and over again. Thoughts of her imprisonment replaying over and over in her head with each shred. Aro presses the button that sends pain throughout Leah's body but she fights through the pain with only a whimper released and she continues to dig into him with her nails. She notices someone grab the button and break it into pieces. A few more rips and Aro's struggling form is weak, a few more rips will finish him off.

As Leah raises her claw up for another rip, she hears someone shout her name in the distance, and then another wolf pushes her off Aro. She hates them for taking away her opportunity to kill Aro and then she hears the yelp and cry and her heart stops, Leah knows that yelp. She looks and sees Jane's arms around Jake's waist crushing his bones. Leah jumps into action, biting into her flesh and killing Jane, the only one who has come to Aro's aid. Leah notices the shirt on the ground beside Jake's quivering form, he is transforming back into his human form. Leah morphs back into her human form, focusing on her bones reconstructing. Someone has laid a jacket to cover Jake with.

She smells fire and looks to see a fire pit with a few bodies in it. Leah pulls over the shirt and pulls Jake into her lap, trying to comfort him. Leah runs her fingers through his hair, whispering soothing words to him. "It will be okay Jake…" She whispers. Jake is shaking from the pain and his eyes are closed. "You're so stupid, Jake." Leah says. "You shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have tried to protect me. You could have gotten yourself killed."

Jake smiles but it doesn't quite reach his now opened eyes and he looks into her eyes. "It would have been worth it Lee." She shakes her head. He searches for her hand and she lays it in his and he grasps it tightly. Carlisle sits on Jake's side.

"You've been through this before Jake… you know the drill." Carlisle says to him.

Jake groans. "I was hoping it would be different."

Carlisle shakes his head sadly. "This will… hurt." He says as he begins setting Jake's bones. He squeezes my hand tightly, screams and curses. After what seems like forever, Carlisle stops. "That should do it. Jake, don't move around. Just stay still for a while." Carlisle instructs and Jake nods. He wasn't planning on moving ever again. He looks up and sees Nessie standing over him, her face full of worry. Now, he wanted to move. He didn't want to hurt Nessie, even if he loved Leah.

Leah notices Nessie for the first time and she begins to slide away but Jake keeps her hand in his grip. "Don't leave." He tells her and Leah nods.

"Nessie… there's something I should tell you." Jake says.

Nessie nods and sits down beside him, she takes his other hand. Her brown eyes bore into his expectantly. He looks up to Leah, if he ever wanted to kiss those lips again, he was going to have to tell Nessie. Let's just say he really wanted to kiss her lips again, sooner rather than later. And Nessie needed to know, the sooner the better for her, so her feelings didn't turn romantic towards Jake.

"I love Leah, Nessie." Jake says, worried she'll freak out. "And she loves me."

Nessie nods, "I kind of picked up on that." Jake raises his eyebrow in question to her. "Give me some credit Jake. You dove in front of a maddened vampire to save her, you get your ribs crushed and the person you reach for is Leah. And she didn't think anything about running to your aid, there was a bit of a battle going on but she seemed to focus completely on you. It wasn't like you were the most conspicuous pair. When I came before I could see the chemistry between you two." Nessie looks down, "I had hoped that I could force myself to feel romantically for you, that's what we were supposed to be." She looks around the room and her scan stops, her eyes locking on something. "But I couldn't feel for you the way I felt for someone else. And, I realized you felt the same way about me." Leah follows her gaze and it's toward a small group of people. Seth, Embry, Quil and Felix. Leah is relieved at the sight of Seth laughing, safe and sound. "I'm just glad it's not weird between us." Nessie says kissing Jake's forehead and then rubbing the spot she kissed with her thumb. "You're still my best friend, Jake."

"And you are mine." Jake smiles to her.

Nessie turns to Leah. "Thank you." She smiles sweetly and Leah hates how impossible it is to hate this girl.

"For what?" Leah asks her.

"For being by Jake's side. For helping him through this, I'm sure he couldn't have done it without you. It's my fault you were here in the first place. I'm so sorry for that. I can never thank you enough for the sacrifice you made." She says.

"Well… in all honesty it wasn't for you." Leah says to her and looks to Jake.

"I know. But I care about him and his safety as you do. So thank you for taking care of him." Nessie says.

"You're welcome." Leah says.

"I'm going to go over there." Nessie says. "I know you'll take care of him." She smiles and jumps up gracefully and dances over to her family.

"Oh… so you just took care of me all this time. I sound like such a pathetic person." Jake says with a small smile.

"Damsel in distress." Leah corrects and she leans down and places a kiss on his cheek. Jake squeezes her hand as if to tell her to stay there. Leah giggles. "It will be our little secret that we took care of each other." She whispers and kisses him again.

"I don't like being the damsel in distress," Jake pouts.

"Then don't go making stupid moves like jumping in front of a charging vampire and getting your ribs crushed." Leah smiles but then she becomes serious and runs her hands through his head. "You could have died…"

Jake shakes his head. "After all we've been through that was not how I was going to go out…" Jake smiles to Leah. "Plus, I have a long, long, long life to live with you."

"I hope so." Leah smiles to him and kisses his lips gently and then pulls away. "Got to wait to you are all healed up. Can't have you exerting yourself." She smiles to him when he groans.

Felix comes and sits beside us. "Crazy day huh?" He smiles.

Leah smiles and nods. "What all happened? I kind of… focused completely on one thing."

"Caius fought Rose after Aro was killed and Emmett killed him, throwing him in the fire with Jane and Aro. Marcus calmly surrendered and apologized for Aro's behavior. He said he was sure many of the vampires in the room were as appalled with his behavior as he was. He promised for it to never happen. Marcus has never been power hungry, so we believe him. Two trustworthy members of the guard are to move up and govern alongside Marcus. And those involved with my… situation are to be on restrictions for a year and then they will be re-judged. There were a few more Guard member deaths from the beginning, but when the mission crew came back, they didn't fight. It was over pretty quickly." Felix informs us.

"And our numbers?" Leah asks, worry in her voice.

"Only minor injuries." Felix says proudly and looks down to Jake. "The most major sitting in your arms."

Leah nods with relief. "Thank you."

"Did you enjoy shredding Aro?" Felix smiles slightly.

Leah had never been one to take joy in taking someone's life but she had felt that joy twice today. When she took away Aro's life, her tormentor, the man who had ruined and hurt so many, and when she killed Jane, the one who almost killed Jake, the one that had caused her so much pain. She nods.

"It felt good to throw that lighter on him." Felix smiles proudly. Leah smiles a bit. "I've been invited to come to Forks. The Cullens are taking me in. However, I was told I had a choice of what pack to join."

"Ours is the best, but of course, I'm biased." She smiles to him. "But you've already made up your mind haven't you?"

"I think you, me and him make a pretty good team, Pup." Felix says.

"I agree." Leah says.

"I agree too, as long as you don't try to hit on Leah." Jake says.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Felix smiles. "I'll give you two sometime."

Felix jumps up and walks away. Jake moves and groans. He reaches up and Leah feels pressure on the back of her neck. Jake yanks and Leah feels something break. Leah looks down and sees him grasping the necklace that had caused so much pain. Leah's eyes go from the necklace to Jake's eyes.

"Burn it." Jake says. Leah nods, takes the necklace in her hand, stands up and walks to the flame with a pile of ashes as the base of the flame.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! :) And I did a two chapter update! Yay! Sorry for the slow updates, I thought this might make up for it. There's at least one more chapter coming up soon, maybe more. Not sure, but this story is coming to a close. Sorry for any typos in the past two chapters, I've written these at 2:30 in the morning. I tried to catch some before posting but I'm sure some hid from me. Hope you guys liked it! Maybe enough to review? Hope you guys are well! Bye!


	17. Chapter 17

When the chain slips through Leah's hand, she watches the flame engulf the metal of the necklace, relief suddenly rushes through her and she releases a sigh. Leah watches the metal begin to turn into a liquid and then she looks around and sees Nessie laughing with Seth. When did they become so close? Seth had always been close to the Cullen's but Nessie was always around Jake, and now Nessie has her hand resting on Seth's forearm gently as she tells him a story. And why was Seth looking at her like that? Leah thinks to herself but shakes it off for nothing.

She looks and finds Jake struggling to sit up. She rushes over to him and helps him. Jake groans, "I really don't like being the damsel in distress." He says through a breathlessness caused from pain.

Leah smiles, "You can't always save the day." Leah makes a point to slowly and gently lay her head on his shoulder to give him a chance to push her away if she was going to hurt him. When her head finally rests on his shoulder, Jake lets out a chuckle. "What?" Leah asks.

"You are acting like I'm so fragile." Jake says. "I'm fine, I already feel so much better."

Leah looks down and finds Jake's hand and locks hers in his. When she looks up she finds Edward looking down to them. "We should get going. Can you survive moving to the plane?" Jake nods.

Edward reaches his hand out for Jake to take and Jake isn't too proud at the moment to turn it down because his ribs were hurting greatly and he couldn't imagine standing on his own. Leah's hand releases his and she walks over to her brother. Jake watches her as she walks away, admiring all of her beauty. Beauty he had been too afraid to admit the great detail of how much he had admired her beauty for years. He couldn't believe how fearful he was, he couldn't imagine not being with Leah every day for the rest of his life. Now, Jake realizes he is afraid of other things, things that quickly took the place of the other fear. Like the fear of losing her, the fear of fucking things up so much with her that she didn't want him anymore, the fear that came with the knowledge that she was his weakness that any enemy could use against him, to hurt him, and the fear that she had the power to destroy Jake completely. Then Jake realizes that he wouldn't trust anyone else with that power, Leah would be cautious and careful with that power, and hopefully she'd never use it.

…

When the plane lands, Leah wakes up from Jake's shoulder and gently wakes Jake up. He yawns and smiles when he sees her face. "Home sweet home." Leah whispers to him and she stands up as everyone is leaving the plane. Everyone is quiet from exhaustion, Leah feels like she could sleep for days. Leah begins walking out when someone grabs her hand. She turns and sees Jake smiling at her. She smiles back, wondering what he is thinking. When they step off the plane Leah and Jake's names are called by different voices. Leah's name from her mother and Jake's from Billy. "We'll see each other soon." Leah assures him as she lets go of his hand and runs to her mother's arms.

"Leah, I'm so happy to see you." She reaches out and grabs Seth into her arms. "And you too. I was worried sick."

"Sorry Mom." Leah says. "I promise I'm fine. Everything is okay."

Sue Clearwater smiles at her children in her arms. "I'm sure you are both exhausted. Let's get you guys home."

Billy looks up to his son smiling proudly. "Glad you are home Jake." He says as Jake begins leading him to the car. Jake smiles and gets Billy in the car.

On the way home Jake breaks the comfortable silence. "Thank you." He tells Billy.

"For what?" Billy asks.

"For writing me. You told me exactly what I needed to hear. How do you always do that?" Jake says. "You always know what to say and when to say it."

"I'll take it that you are talking about the fact that you walked off that plane holding Leah's hand and not Nessie's." Billy says.

"I chose free will. I love her, Dad." Jake says.

Billy smiles, "It's about time you opened those blind eyes of yours."

Jake looks to Billy, "You wanted this to happen."

"Anyone could see she's an amazing girl Jake. If you weren't going to sweep her up, someone else would have." Billy smiles and Jake nods. Billy looks over to his house and then to Jake. "You've changed." He says gently.

"In a good way or a bad way?" Jake asks him.

"A good way, a very good way Jake." Billy says to him smiling a bit. "Let's get you inside I'm sure you are exhausted."

Billy leans and opens the door. "Dad," Jake says and waits for Billy to turn to him, "I missed you."

"I missed you too Jake." Billy says. "No more running across the globe trying to save the world. Got it?"

"Got it." Jake smiles and gets out to help Billy out of the car.

…

"Hey Leah!" Seth says as he walks into her room and sits on her bed. Leah rolls over still exhausted and not ready to be woken up. "I'm going to the Cullen's for the day. I'll be back before dinner. Mom is at work until midnight. See you." Seth says calmly but Leah doesn't miss his hand running over her hair nervously as if he's worried she's not really there or that she'll leave and get hurt. Leah's heart breaks a little at this. She had left to protect him, but apparently her absence had hurt and worried him more than she thought. She was the older sibling; she was supposed to be the worrier not her baby brother. Leah was now worried her brother had grown up more in her absence; she wasn't ready for him to grow up. Leah had realized in her life that growing up was overrated. Growing up meant understanding not everyone was happy. It meant realizing not everything went your way, and life had a way of making sure it usually didn't go your way, challenging you every step of the way. It meant crying yourself to sleep after your first heartbreak when you swore that love would last forever. It meant losing innocence and the trust that people were generally good. It meant worries and shattered dreams. She wished she had never grown up and she had wished Seth would never have to.

"Be careful." Leah mumbles groggily.

"You, be careful." Seth says as he leaves her room.

Leah rolls over, pulls the covers closer to her face and falls back into sleep.

…

She's running, running from something she's sure of it but she doesn't remember what that something is. She can feel the fear pulsing through her body as she runs as if her life depended on it. Why wasn't she in her wolf form? Why couldn't she change? She could run faster in her wolf form. A scream echoes through the forest that she's running through. Barefoot, she now realizes as her feet contact damp fallen leaves. The scream echoes again, it holds more pain and Leah stops in her tracks when she recognizes it. Jake. It couldn't be, he should be safe, he should be smart enough to keep out of trouble. Leah could run in one direction, abandoning Jake but saving herself from whatever it is that she is running from; or she could run towards the scream, something told her she was his only hope, and she could try to save him, maybe losing her life in the process. But that's what love is right? Caring about someone more than you, treasuring someone else's life more than yours? Leah starts to run, running as if her life depended on her when really it wasn't her life anymore that running depended on, it was Jake's. She was his only hope, and she couldn't let him down, he wouldn't if the roles were reversed. Leah stops abruptly when she realizes something in jumping against her chest as she runs. Her hands go up and wrap around the necklace she tried to burn, the only thing around her neck, the necklace the pack had given her completely gone as if it hadn't existed at all. "There's a good girl, I told them you would come." Aro's voice invades her head in her confusion. And then… the pain, worse than she had imagined returns throughout her body. "I had warned you, you couldn't escape me dearie. Or your poor little boyfriend would suffer." Aro speaks as Leah drops to the ground in too much pain to bear. "Look at him!" Aro orders and Leah's eyes find Jake, hoping her obedience will make the pain go away. Jake's body lies motionless with cuts and dirt covering his body. The pain subsides but Leah can't move for two reasons. One: Her body is still in shock from the pain, her muscles are exhausted from the spasms and don't seem to want to listen. Two: Jake's body appears to be void of life; this fact might be the most paralyzing. Leah's heart drops, she was too late. "He's not dead yet dearie. Poor Jacob, he had to take the fall for his girlfriend's mistakes. Tell me Leah, how does it feel to know you were the cause of the death of your boyfriend?" He smiles down to her evilly. "What do you want from me?" Leah asks him. "Remember Leah, I have big plans for you dearie." Aro smiles. "Please… don't kill him. I'll do anything." Leah begs. "Of course you will, but now, you must be taught a lesson." Aro smiles sadistically pressing the button she hated. Pain radiated throughout her body and Leah screams again, louder than before. Her screams echo throughout the forest, bouncing from tree to tree, then to her ears, then the cycle repeats with each scream. "You'll never get rid of me." Aro says with an evil smile. Leah screams more and then warm arms wrap around her and she moves into the warmth not caring who it is, warmth was comforting especially when she was in pain. "Wake up, Leah." She hears. "Come on baby, wake up, it's just a dream." Jake's voice bounces off the trees and the pain begins to go away as she believes his words. It had to be a dream. Someone kisses her forehead; Leah closes her eyes and then opens them.

She's back safely in her room, safely in Jake's arms. She leans into him apologizing. Jake kisses her forehead again and brushes a stray hair behind her ear. "Don't apologize, I had some last night. I woke up Billy. After the last one I needed to see you." Jake whispers to her, pulling her closer, smelling her hair taking in everything that makes her Leah.

Leah looks up to him with sad eyes. "I thought I was okay. That was the only one I had. I'm glad Seth and Mom weren't home, they would worry."

"Was it about Aro?" Jake asks pulling her completely against him.

Leah nods. "And losing you," she whispers sadly at the thought of Jake bloody and lifeless. "That was the worst part."

"You aren't losing me." Jake tries to comfort her. "Remember? I told you, long happy life with you Leah." Jake forces a smile on his face even though his own nightmarish thoughts were running through his head. What if she didn't lose him? What if he lost her? "It was just a nightmare, baby. It's over, Aro's gone, and he can't hurt you anymore."

Leah nods, "I sound so… pathetic."

Jake shakes his head, "No you don't. You are reacting how any human would react after what you've been through. Don't be so hard on yourself."

Leah looks up to him, she cups his face and brings his lips down onto his, as if trying to prove to herself that this isn't the dream and that place she just awoke from wasn't reality. She pulls away after a moment, "What were your nightmares about?"

Jake looks down; his fingers lace through hers. "Losing you Leah."

"I'm not going anywhere." Leah whispers before her lips crush his again. She pulls away for a second, "I love you Jake." She says before her lips make contact with his again.

"I. Love. You." Jake says between kisses.

A/N: Hi, sorry another slow update is finally here. I got kind of stuck with this chapter. I knew where I wanted this to go but not how to get there for the longest time. Hope you enjoyed! There will be at least two more chapters, I believe. Thanks! I send love to all of you guys! -Courtney


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

Leah pulls away from kissing Jake and looks down, suddenly worrying about things that didn't seem to be important a day ago. Jake reaches down, takes her chin and lifts it so her eyes meet his. "What's that mind of yours thinking about?" Jake asks, inches from her.

"I'm not sure how to do this." Leah says trying to avoid his gaze. A smile pulls at Jake's lips after failing to stop it.

"Do what?" Jake says and kisses her gently. "You seem to be doing an excellent job at this," he says as his lips touch hers again before pulling away to listen to her. His intense eyes meet hers and make her nervous again.

"Relationships," she blurts. "I don't have the best record with them… maybe we should just stop now, clean break, no one gets hurt." She looks down. She is scared, he could hurt her, he could really hurt her and it might even be worse than when Sam hurt her. She can't remember ever feeling this way about Sam, with Sam, affection slowly grew into attraction which slowly blossomed into love. But with Jake, it was like all of a sudden one day he wasn't a kid anymore. Leah blushes as she remembers how she was so shocked the first time she saw him naked, _little Jake has finally grown up_ she had thought, and damn wasn't that the truth. Who would have thought grown up Jake could make her feel all of this? She never would have guessed it. Once she stopped seeing Jake as a kid, her attraction to him was instantaneous, and she quickly fell for him after that. As they say, the rest is history. It took Leah a while to realize she liked Jake and everything he did that annoyed her and got under her skin only added to her feelings for him. The way he cared about everyone so damn much made it impossible for her to just forget about him. She had tried, countless times but there was something about him she couldn't shake, and now, now that she's acknowledged that she loves him she couldn't imagine shaking her feelings for him ever again. But maybe if they cooled all the kissing and the touching and she distanced herself from him they could go back to how things were, no one hurt and remaining friends. Leah couldn't imagine losing Jake as a friend, especially not after what they had gone through.

Jake lifts her chin again making her look into his eyes again. His heart beats faster, was she really trying to quit and give up? He couldn't believe it. And did she honestly think walking away wouldn't hurt anyone? It would hurt him, it would probably kill him actually, and the idea of never kissing her lips again or never pulling her body against his ever again makes him physically ache and his heart shatter. Maybe it was selfish of him but he couldn't let her go, it would hurt too much. He tries imagining the rest of his life without her, walking around La Push avoiding eye contact with her because both of them would be scared of what their eyes meeting would lead to. And then she'd move on, find someone who she deserves, someone wonderful, and they'd have kids and Jake would watch from the side wishing he was that guy kissing her, holding her and making her laugh. She couldn't want that, not really, not when she had just kissed him the way she had. Then Jake sees it he had been too worried to notice it before, she had fear in her eyes, but why? "What are you afraid of?" Jake blurts, successfully keeping his voice even.

"I don't want to mess this up, Jake." Leah says. "I don't want to get hurt and I don't want to hurt you. It could be better to just stop this thing right now, no more kissing or touching or long, meaningful talks. You could go your way and I could go mine. No heartbreak, no tears, clean break."

Was she being serious? Jake thinks to himself. He thought he knew Leah, but now he wasn't so sure. Was this what she really wanted? Would Jake be selfish if he told her he didn't want that and that he wanted her to stay with him always?

Leah stands up awkwardly from her bed, wondering what was going through his head. Her words had almost convinced her it would be best for them to stop right now, had they convinced him to? Was he thinking about leaving her right now? Leah leans against the wall facing him trying to read him. It had never been this difficult to read him before.

Jake looks down and then back up to her. "Is that what you want? Honestly?" He asks, his eyes looking into hers intensely, so intensely Leah can't get her eyes to look away.

Leah sighs. "It would be very logical. We had a good run, a few kisses here and there, people dream of this kind of clean break."

Jake stands up moving closer, he is going to fight for them, and after he fights if she still wants to walk away, he couldn't stop her it would be her choice but he is going to make sure she knows he didn't just give up without a fight. Because at this very moment there was only one person Jake couldn't imagine living without and that person was the girl standing in front of him leaning against a wall, looking into his eyes, nervously waiting for an answer. "That does sound very logical…" Jake says moving so that he is inches from her; his hands gently rest on her waist as he continues talking to her. "But would it be a clean break for you?"

He waits for her answer but she doesn't give one. "Because it won't be a clean break for me. It will hurt like hell; I can promise you that Clearwater. It will probably make me ache every day for the rest of my life, and when I see you with someone else I'll want to rip their throat. That's not even scratching the surface of what it will feel like to see you and not be able to touch you and kiss you," Jake grips her waist, his fingers digging into her hips slightly and pulls her body against his. She gasps and looks up to him. "And I won't be able to feel your body against mine ever again."

He leans close to her ear, his tongue licks her earlobe and Leah releases a moan Jake can tell she was trying to contain. "That will suck, it truly will but I'd do it for you. I'd go through all of that if I truly believed that's what you wanted." He says moving from her ear to inches in front of her face. "But I'm not convinced yet… you almost had me. There's one more thing to do. I've told you how I feel… now I have to show you. So if you don't want this, just stop me and I'll walk out of here for you, to make you happy." Jake leans closer, his hand around her neck.

His lips touch hers gently, and his hand on her waist pulls her against his body once again. Leah doesn't react at first and then her arms wrap around him, trying to pull him closer. His tongue dances on her lips but doesn't enter her mouth. His kiss is light and gentle, the most gentle they've shared. Jake begins to pull away but one of Leah's hands goes to his head and pushes his lips back against hers, he bites her lip playfully, he smiles and she gasps through the kiss.

The kiss continues for long moments, Jake's hands roam her body gently trying to capture the feel of every part of her body in case it is the last time he does this. His tongue gently massages hers. Leah's hands pull at his hair and rub his scalp. Each of them want more, each of them don't want to be the first to break away.

Leah pulls away gasping for breath, breathless from probably the best kiss of her life. Jake is breathless too. He kisses her cheek. "Now do you want to stop this?" He whispers softly into her cheek.

He looks at her because she hasn't answered and he can't read her face again. Leah looks flustered from the kiss, her hair is everywhere from when Jake had run his hands over her head, her lips are bright red from the kissing, and she has never looked more attractive to him. Oh how he wished he could go further with her right now, but he had more important issues like the fact that she might have been serious and she might really never want to kiss him again. Jake nods after she is still silent a few seconds longer and suddenly he feels very awkward. "I understand." Jake says and he leaves her room.

Leah watches him trying to gather her thoughts, trying to speak. That kiss left her brain all muddled and mixed up. She is trying to make sense of the words floating around in her head, she doesn't want to sound like an idiot, she wants to say the right thing but she can't pull herself together. When he nods and turns to leave her heart aches. Say something! She thinks to herself. She hears his feet on the stairs and suddenly her feet are chasing after him without her brain consciously thinking the thought to move.

The front door opens and slams, her heart is racing, why did she say that stuff? Was she a complete moron? Of course she never wanted to leave him, why would those words even leave her lips? Maybe it was to find out how serious they were; maybe it was to figure out how much he cared, or how much he would fight for them. Whatever reason it was stupid and if Jake left because of it she'd be miserable for the rest of her life because he deserved someone so much better than her. He deserved someone who would never think those thoughts; he deserved someone who wouldn't be such an idiot and would tell him every day that she was going to be by his side.

When had it started raining?

"Jake!" She shouts as he is about to start running. He turns around and faces her, his face washes over with relief. But he's still skeptical of what she's going to say. Leah runs to him, when she reaches him she jumps onto him and his arms catch her as her legs wrap around his torso. She grabs his face and kisses his lips over and over again. "I'm so sorry," she says after kissing him. The rain is beating on her shoulders but she doesn't care. Her hands run through his hair enjoying the feel of his hair and the water running through her fingers. "I'm an idiot. I never should have said that stuff, I didn't mean a word of it." She kisses him again. "It wouldn't be a clean break for me; it would hurt every damn day of my life if I let you go. I'm so sorry." She whispers as she kisses him again. "I love kissing you and touching you, being in your arms and just being with you." She says and kisses Jake again. "I can't imagine a day being spent without you and I realize how insane I sound right now. I'm so attached to you and I never thought I'd get this attached to anyone. It scares me and makes me say stupid things, things I don't mean." She kisses him again quickly. "Forgive me, please?" She looks at him with puppy dog eyes.

Jake smiles. "I like this vulnerable side of you. Show me more." Jake jokes. Leah smirks to him and leans down and nips his neck with her teeth playfully.

"All of my walls are down now." She leans inches from his ear, "I'm vulnerable; are you happy now?" She whispers and licks his earlobe, mimicking his action earlier.

"It's about time Clearwater." Jake smirks and Leah kisses him trying to wipe the smirk off his cocky face. "Is everyone going to see this new side of you?"

Leah shakes her head. "Only you." She whispers and kisses him as if she hasn't kissed him enough tonight.

Jake pulls away from the kiss and sets her on her feet. Leah groans in protest. "Let's get you inside before you get sick. You could have told me all of this inside you know?" He says wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her inside.

"Well I would have been able to if someone didn't kiss me and mix up my brain." Leah says it and she instantly regrets it. She shouldn't have said that. She looks at Jake who has a cocky smirk on his face.

"My kiss mixed up your brain huh?" He smirks to her.

Leah sighs and rolls her eyes. "Don't even act like it didn't affect you… I could feel how you were affected." She winks and begins laughing when they get inside.

Jake smiles, "Alright, it affected me. Happy?"

"Not quite." She says and she pushes him against the wall gently, smiling she kisses him.

"Leah," Jake says slowly pulling away. "We should slow down if you don't want things going further."

"Who said I didn't want things going further?" She smirks and kisses him.

"Are you thinking clearly? A second ago you were pushing me away now you want things to go further?" Jake says pulling away again. Leah groans.

"I never wanted you to leave. I want you, Jake. Now, preferably but if you aren't ready then we can wait…" Leah says smiling to herself, it's like the roles are reversed. Jake is the one not ready and thinking logically while Leah can only think about feeling his skin against hers.

"Of course I'm ready." Jake says. "I've been ready for a long time. But I don't want you to have any regrets or wish things went differently."

Leah smiles. "Did you hear me? I want you. I've wanted you for a long time too. Now stop worrying. I won't regret this." Leah kisses him and then leads him to her room. She closes and locks the door then pushes him against the wall. "The Alpha is letting me take control. How… unusual." She smirks to him and kisses him.

Jake smiles through the kiss and spins them so her back is against the door with a thud. "You know I don't like being called Alpha. And I'd never let you take control." He smiles.

"You love it. We both know it." Leah laughs.

"Only from you." Jake admits. His hands go from her shoulder all the way to her hands. He laces his fingers through hers and then raises her hands above her head against the door. Jake kisses her neck. "Last time, you are sure?" He asks kissing her neck again.

As if she could say no after all of this kissing. It has been too long and she wanted Jake more than anything right now.

"I'm sure. I want you. Now shut up and kiss me again." Leah says right before his lips captures hers.

**A/N: Lots of lovey dovey stuff in this chapter. This will be the last chapter before the epilogue and then the story is over. It's been so awesome; all of you guys are so awesome. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! -Courtney**


	19. Epilogue

Epilogue:

Four years later…

Leah wakes up to a beautiful pair of warm chocolate eyes look at her from a chubby face that hadn't had the chance to lose her baby fat. The child's long black hair was beautiful and thick and hardly gave any trouble. Has it really been three years since the kid had come into her life, forever changing her world? Leah thinks.

Thankfully it had been four years without any trouble from any vampires whatsoever. According to Carlisle, Marcus is keeping his word.

"Mommy…" The little girl whispers.

Leah leans close to the girl kissing her on her cheek. "Sh, Daddy was on patrol last night. Let's go make breakfast." She suggests and picks up the little girl, quietly carrying her out of Jake and Leah's bedroom. When they were a safe distance from the room Leah began to talk to the girl. "What do you want for breakfast today Lucy?"

"Pancakes!" Lucy cheers. Leah smiles, amused by her daughter. Leah leans down and kisses the girl on her forehead.

"Pancakes it is." Leah smiles and begins making the pancakes while Lucy watches her carefully.

Just as Leah is finishing the pancakes Jake walks into the kitchen, he still looks tired but he has a smile on his face. He walks over to Lucy and kisses the top of her head. "How's my little girl?" Jake smiles.

"I'm not little anymore Daddy." Lucy corrects proudly. "Right Mommy?"

"Of course." Leah smiles to Jake. "Lucy's a big girl now."

"How could I forget?" Jake smiles to Lucy. "Forgive me?"

"Of course Daddy." Lucy turns and kisses Jake on the cheek. Jake smiles and Leah moves the plate full of pancakes to the table.

"Has Caleb not woken up yet?" Jake asks Leah. Leah shakes her head. "That baby can sleep through everything." Jake smiles proudly.

"How was patrol?" Leah asks Jake. She hadn't been on patrol since she was pregnant with Lucy. It was a miracle to get pregnant with her; many thought it would be impossible for a female werewolf to have a baby. Leah wasn't allowed to change during her pregnancy, Carlisle instructed Jake to make sure Leah didn't become upset over anything because a transformation could possibly kill the baby. And as if having one miracle baby wasn't enough, Leah had Caleb five months ago. He looked just like his father which Leah loved so much. He even had the personality of Jake, eating and sleeping were main priorities to the boy.

"Pretty boring." Jake says as he fills up two glasses of orange juice and a "big girl cup" for Lucy. "Seth is going to stop by tomorrow." Leah nods.

"Emily said she was going to pick up Luce early this morning and take her to the beach so Luce and Anna can spend the whole day together." Anna is Sam and Emily's daughter, she is only a few months older than Lucy.

Leah says and Lucy bounces up and down in her chair excitedly. The little girl suddenly becomes more anxious and begins eating quicker. "I get to show Anna my new doll!" She bounces some more.

"Yes, calm down Luce." Leah warns. "You are going to choke. You have plenty of time."

"All done!" Lucy cheers and runs to her room.

"You won't be leaving until you put your plate in the sink." Leah tells her. Lucy runs back quickly, placing the dish in the sink and kissing Leah on the cheek. Then she disappears again. Leah shakes her head and looks over to Jake. "That's your fault you know."

"How is that my fault?" Jake says as he continues to eat.

"She gets so excited about everything just like you." Leah says to Jake and bites the pancake.

"I only get excited over important things." Jake smiles. "Speaking of which, have you seen what I've done to the Rabbit?" And just like that Jake is back that fifteen year old boy constantly talking about cars, but Leah can't help but be amused by him. "New paint job. It looks so much better."

"I'll have to look at it sometime." Leah says.

"Don't sound so excited," Jake says sarcastically and smirks. Leah gives him a look that she only uses for him and continues eating.

They finish breakfast with small talk basically about the events of last night what Jake missed with the kids and what Leah missed with the pack. Jake says Felix and Aurora, a vampire the Cullens introduced into their lifestyle about two years ago, are doing well and Felix and Aurora have set a date for their wedding.

Aurora was one of the vampires Leah could tolerate, that list was becoming longer faster and faster. She was kind and she didn't mind that Felix was a mix between vampire and werewolf. She laughed at all of his jokes, even if they weren't funny, that's when Leah had seen Aurora's true love for Felix. Aurora was good for Felix, with her around Felix was calmer, happier and more pleasant to be around. Their love was the kind of love that changed each other for the good. Juliet, Aurora's human sister had told Leah that Aurora was usually angry and scared; the only reason the sisters had come to the Cullens was because Juliet had begged Aurora. Apparently some jerk had talked Aurora into believing that she loved him and one night, when Juliet was away (luckily) and Aurora's parents were asleep she invited the man over. He killed her family quickly, draining them from every bit of their blood and then left Aurora after biting her and changing her into a vampire.

Juliet is one of Leah's closest friends, which is strange because Juliet is Seth's imprint. Seth had imprinted on Juliet one night on patrol after only looking into her eyes for a second, his whole world changed and she was gone before he could speak to her. Then the Cullens came over and introduced their new family members and Seth had froze when he saw her. And the rest is history…

Seth and Nessie had tried to be a couple after the trip from Volterra but both had decided they were better as friends. Now, Nessie is traveling the world, her parents say she is extremely happy.

Jake tells Leah that both Felix and Aurora send their love. Felix promises once Aurora gets a break from the wedding planning she's coming over to spend time with Leah and the kids.

Leah cleans up the table with the help of Jake and when the last plate is washed Jake pushes Leah against the counter and kisses her. Leah smiles through the kiss and Jake's wet hands run from Leah's cheeks to the back of her neck. He pulls away from the kiss. "Good morning Lee." Jake whispers as he kisses her again. Leah pulls him closer so his body is against hers. "God, I missed you." Jake moans when her hands run under his shirt and over his torso.

"And I missed you." Leah says, kissing him again. And right on cue the baby cries. Jake groans as Leah's lips leave his. "Do you want Caleb or Lucy?"

"What does Lucy's job involve?" Jake asks as they begin to leave the kitchen hand in hand down the hall.

"Helping her pack." Leah says.

"Lucy." Jake says quickly with a smile.

"Fine." Leah smiles and walks into Caleb's room to pick up the crying baby. It never gets old what Jake will do to avoid changing a baby's diaper. Sure, he helps. He was the best father and husband Leah could ask for but he hated changing diapers. He'd do anything else in the world over changing a diaper.

Leah changes Caleb's diaper, carries him into the kitchen and begins making a bottle for him. Meanwhile the baby is playing with her hair which has become longer since she doesn't change as much as she used to. He seems amused with it, when he hits the hair and it flies up and then returns to its normal place the boy giggles. Leah smiles; she's amused by how easily the kid is entertained. Leah finishes making the bottle and begins to feed the baby in the cushioned rocker her mother had gotten her as soon as Leah had told her she was pregnant with Lucy.

The sound of a car pulling into the driveway is soon accompanied by the sound of little feet running through the house. "They are here!" Lucy cheers.

Just in time, Leah thinks, Caleb just finished his bottle. Leah stands holding the boy as Lucy runs outside. "Luce!" Leah calls and Jake jogs into the family room. He shrugs at Leah with a smile on his face. "You were supposed to watch her." Leah says jokingly mad with him.

"She's too much like you," Jake shrugs picking up Caleb and bouncing him a little trying to burp him. Leah stands up and puts a towel on his shoulder. She kisses Caleb's head and then Jake's cheek. "You can't just watch her or control her."

"Let's go say hi to Sam and Emily." Leah says as she walks out and Jake follows her lead.

"Lee-Lee!" Anna says as she squirms out of her mother's arms and runs to Leah. Leah smiles as she sees Sam holding Lucy. Leah picks up Anna and spins her around.

"It seems like Anna has missed you," Emily says with a huge smile. "She talks nonstop about your mac and cheese. I try to make her some but she loves yours so much more."

"We all love her mac and cheese." Jake says as he walks over to Sam and gives him a handshake.

"Very true." Emily nods in agreement.

Leah looks to Anna in her arms, "Well you'll have to sleep over one night this week and I can make you some." Anna nods her head excitedly. Anna favors her father so much.

"And what about the rest of us?" Sam asks as Emily hugs Leah. Leah laughs.

"You guys can come over too if you'd like." Leah offers. "A couple more people shouldn't be a problem."

"How's this little guy?" Sam asks Jake looking to Caleb.

"Refusing to burp, currently." Jake says. "But he sleeps more than Luce ever did, which we are thankful for." Jake smiles.

"Can we go to the beach now?" Lucy asks eagerly and Sam laughs.

"Yes we can." He answers. "Come on Anna, we'll see Lee-Lee later." Leah puts Anna down and she runs to Emily.

"See you guys later!" Leah calls as they load into the car. "Behave Luce!" She calls as the doors close and they pull out of the drive.

Jake walks over to her and wraps his free arm around her, she leans into him. "Too bad we can't get rid of this one…" Jake whispers.

"And why is that?" Leah asks giggling.

"I miss you Lee." He whispers into her ear.

"I'm right here." She giggles and spins out of his arms. She takes Caleb and then the towel. She bounces him once and he burps onto the towel. "Always has been a Mommy's boy." Leah says proudly as she begins to walk into the house.

"You are avoiding the conversation." Jake groans as he follows her into the house.

"I'm not avoiding the conversation… I don't understand. I'm right here, how could you miss me?" She smirks as she continues walking. "Come on Caleb, Daddy's horny again." She smiles.

"Nice language." Jake says as she sets Caleb in his play pen, she walks into Caleb's nursery and begins packing some of his clothes into a bag.

"I mean, I miss _all_ of you." Jake says grabbing her waist and pulling her against him. He leans close to her ear and nips it playfully. "It's been a while, Lee."

Leah giggles. "I'd hardly call it a while. Wasn't it the other day?"

"Four days to be exact." Jake says. Leave it to him to keep track, Leah thinks.

"Aren't you tired?" She asks. "You had patrol until four thirty this morning and Luce woke us up early this morning."

"I'm never tired. Not when it comes to this." Jake winks.

"But you are tired when it comes to changing diapers?" Leah says with a laugh and spins out of his arms again, grabbing Caleb's pajamas.

"Um… yes." Jake says and watches her. Was she packing Caleb's stuff? Why? Jake leans against the wall admiring her. He hadn't thought he could love her more four years ago, but then he found out about Luce and Jake swears his love for her grew ten times that day. And now, after she had given him two children and she still loved and supported him no matter what, she's even more beautiful every day. Jake would like to not be so needy, I mean four days was nothing really. He'd definitely gone longer than four days but he couldn't help himself, she was so damn beautiful all the time even without trying. As hard as it was keeping up with two kids right now, he wanted more and he knew Leah did too. But they didn't want to be greedy; it was a miracle to have both Lucy and Caleb. But maybe they would have one or two more miracles? Someday…

Leah smirks to him as if knowing what he is thinking. "Mom called yesterday."

"How is she?" Jake asks politely.

"Fine, she misses the kids." She says.

Jake nods. "She should come over soon."

Leah smiles, "I'm sure she'd like that. We could have her sleepover tonight."

Jake shrugs, "If that would make you happy."

Leah walks up to him and wraps her arms around his neck. She leans her body against his. "You gave in that easily? I thought you'd fight a little harder Black." She smirks as she nips his neck playfully.

"You didn't seem interested. And bringing your mom up is kind of… a turn off, Black." Jake smirks to her. Leah loves when he called her Black. It acts as a little reminder that this is really her life, that she is really married to this amazing man with two amazing kids living in a simple but beautiful house.

Leah leans close to him taking in his smell, forest and mint toothpaste. "Well… what I was going to tell you is that as soon as she heard Luce was going to be gone, she insisted on coming over and taking Caleb off our hands so we could have the day and night to ourselves…" Leah says and smirks as his face changes with this new knowledge. "Still a turn off?" She smiles, kissing him.

She pulls away. "She'll be here any minute and I have to finish packing his stuff. If you change Caleb's diaper you can choose what we do today." She smiles.

"Deal." He says quickly and runs to go grab Caleb. Leah laughs as she finishes packing Caleb's stuff.

As soon as Jake finishes changing Caleb's diaper a car pulls into the drive. "That must be Mom." Leah says. "You got him?" Jake nods. Leah grabs his bag and walks out to the porch.

"Hey Mom!" Leah greets her. Sue walks up and hugs Leah. "Thanks for coming."

"You and Jake need to have some time alone sometimes. And I was starting to miss them. Now I get to spend some time with Caleb." She smiles. She looks to Jake and reaches out her arms to take Caleb. "And how are you Jake?"

"Very good. Especially since your daughter told me you were going to take Caleb off our hands for the rest of the day." He says and wraps his arms around Leah. "I love those kids but…" He leaves the rest to be implied.

Sue laughs. "Of course. I remember desperately wishing my mother would take Leah and Seth off my hands every once in a while. Speaking of Seth… have you talked to him lately?"

"Not since two days ago. Why?" Leah asks.

Sue shrugs. "I think he's going to propose to Juliet."

"Really? Did he say something?" Leah asks.

"He asked me about your grandmother's ring, asked if I still had it and would let him give it to someone someday." Sue says. "I guess I should have expected it after the imprint. I just didn't think my little baby would be growing up this fast."

"It's not like he's moving away." Leah says. "He'll still be close by."

Sue nods. "I know. Well we'll talk tomorrow. You two enjoy your day together. I still remember Caleb's schedule from the last time I watched him." She smiles taking the bag from Leah.

"Thanks Mom." Leah says hugging her mother again. "I love you." She then kisses Caleb. "Be good," she tells the boy and kisses him again. Jake kisses Caleb and then wraps his arms back around Leah. "Love you!" Leah calls as Sue loads Caleb into the car and pulls out of the driveway.

"Now what?" Leah asks. Jake answers her by moving her hair away from her neck and then kissing it. "Of course…" She sighs.

"Remember your promise. I get to decide what we do today." Jake reminds.

"Of course. And this is fun and all, I just was curious if you'd be a little more creative." Leah says.

"Oh… I'm very creative." He says pulling her into the house. "Go grab a bathing suit and put it on. We're going out."

"Where?" Leah says. "I don't really want to go to the beach if all of them will be there."

Jake shakes his head. "No beach. But it's a surprise. Get a bathing suit on and pack a bit of food. I gotta run to the store. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"You're going to leave me?" Leah asks him.

"Something tells me you can handle yourself…" Jake says. "Go on. I'll be back before you know it."

It takes Jake thirty minutes to get back; meanwhile Leah has been anxious to know what he is planning. He had texted her five minutes after he left "Also pack you and me a change of clothes." And ten minutes ago, "Stop worrying. Trust me."

He knew her too well; Leah thinks as she paces in the house, bags packed with clothes and food.

The car pulls into the drive and Leah runs out with the bags. "A few minutes Jake?" She asks him and he smiles to her.

"Miss me Lee?" He smirks. "Food and clothes?" He asks referring to the bags. Leah nods and he loads the two bags into the car. "I'm going to go change, be right back." He leaves and in a minute he is back. "Ready?"

"Where are we going?" Leah asks as she gets into the car.

"It's a surprise remember?" Jake smiles.

They drive for about ten minutes, through forests and past rivers. Leah looks to him questioningly. "Stop worrying." Jake smiles.

"I'd just like to know where we are going." Leah pouts.

"You trust me don't you?" Jake asks as he makes a sharp turn onto a narrow road.

"Of course I do." Leah says as the car stops she eagerly looks around, there's nothing around them.

"Then stop worrying." Jake says. "We'll have to walk the rest of the way." He puts the car in park. He goes and opens Leah's car door. He reaches his hand out for her to take. When she does he throws her on his back piggy back style.

"What are you up to?" Leah whispers in his ears.

"You'll see." He smiles. Then he starts walking up the mountain with her on his back.

"The bags!" Leah reminds.

Jake nods. "I'll come back for them."

It's about a five minute walk and then Jake stops. Leah jumps down and looks around. The first thing she notices is the sound of running water. A waterfall maybe? Then she sees the waterfall, it is huge how had she never been here before? She looks around more and sees underneath a couple of trees a canopy is set up with pillows he must have taken from the house, and some he must have bought. Leah notices a fire pit for when it gets dark and a trail of lights as well. She spins to look at Jake and she is stunned when he is holding a single, huge red tulip in his hand.

"You…" Leah smiles.

"Me." Jake shrugs. She runs into his arms and snuggles against his chest.

"God, I love you." She tells him and looks up to him. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Well I came across this a month or two ago. Staking it out to see if anyone comes up here, they don't. It seems to be a hidden treasure. I started putting some stuff away for when we were alone the next time. I didn't think it would be this soon though." Jake smiles.

Leah throws he arms around his neck and kisses him. "You're so wonderful."

"I know." Jake says through the kiss. "And you thought I couldn't be creative."

"I shouldn't have doubted you…" Leah says. "So we can stay up here all day?"

"And all night." Jake nods. "Hence the food and the clothes. Which I need to go get. Wait right here." He says and runs to get them.

Jake makes it back quickly and as soon as he gets there Leah jumps onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist. She kisses him and he kisses back. Leah's hands run through his hair, god he loved that. After a while of intense making out Jake pulls away. "We could go swimming first…" He suggests but he knows his heart isn't really in it.

She knows too. "I don't want to swim right now." Leah says dropping from him and pulling him to the canopy. "I want you." She whispers seductively in his ear and that's all Jake needs. He grabs her waist, pulling her body against his, leading them down onto the pillows. He kisses her everywhere, can't get enough of her. Then he kisses her on her lips again making her moan.

"I love you." He whispers through the kiss.

…

The End

A/N: Long chapter to finish the story off! Hope you enjoyed! I struggled; I wanted to get them just right. I hope I did. I also hope there aren't too many spelling errors; I finished this late tonight but was anxious to post it! You guys have all been so wonderful! I can't thank you enough for the reviews, favorites and alerts! Hope you guys liked the ending! It's sad to see this story go… But all stories have to end sometime… Hope all is well with you guys! Bye!


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